Rewilding
We are committed to environmental sustainability and community engagement.
There are many benefits to rewilding even the smallest of land patches in cities and suburbs. Rewilding benefits the city and its residents by improving air and water quality, increasing biodiversity, potentially reducing flooding. Corridors of wild land patches facilitate healthier, more resilient and livable communities. As importantly, they encourage healthier lifestyles by enticing people to spend more time outdoors.
Approach
Rewilding takes many forms:
- Helping a person design and install a bed of native wildflowers or native-like plants in their backyard.
- Removing English vine and blackberries suffocating a strip of no-man’s land between houses to create a wild island, and engaging neighbors to steward it.
- Working with cities to convert parts of their stretches of lawns into wildlife refugia.
We look for land patches that can be secured with multi-year contract protection, either through agreements, leases or easements. Successful rewilding of a patch of land takes years to implement. The effort needs to last.
As a private company, we can be more nimble than a government department or a mission-driven nonprofit. We are able to more quickly iterate in our search for better approaches and be flexible with solutions.
Community Engagement
We see our role as helping to connect community stakeholders: government departments, nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, residents and users of the area. We provide the best available information, equipment, know-how and labor to help achieve successful outcomes.
We are building a network of experts, volunteers and contractors to work on these projects.
A successful project starts with community outreach. Without getting residents and users of the area onboard, a project has worse odds of succeeding long term. We either hold a public meeting or provide information on flyers or a website with a way to participate.
We develop education programs to describe what and why we are doing this project, its importance, and how it fits in the greater goal. We look for local volunteers who want to engage further and be local stewards of the project.
Techniques and Tools
Our Experience and Expertise
Demonstrate your experience: Highlight your company’s experience with similar rewilding projects, including any successful outcomes or awards. This will show that you have the expertise and track record to deliver a high-quality project.
Misha, the founder of Yarvi, has over 15 years of experience in fisheries research and conservation. He’s worked extensively with government and nonprofit organizations.