Zone X Report on Conservation

The Shaker Lakes Garden Club has been actively promoting the importance of native plants to support biodiversity.  To celebrate Earth Month this past April, we hosted two events.  The first featured noted naturalist Harvey Webster who discussed the intricate web between flora and fauna if we are to prevent both habitat loss and extinction.  Harvey served as the Director of Wildlife at the Cleveland Natural History Museum and is currently working with SLGC member Jane Ellison to help create backyard habitats through the Audubon Society.  

We also worked with the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes to host our first teen Weed Wrangle.  The teens learned about invasive species in the Shaker park lands and set about removing invasives with SLCG members and the staff at Shaker Lakes.  As the afternoon went on, the enthusiasm rose as the pile of invasives grew and the teens saw the results of their hard work.  We also discovered once you give teens saws, axes, and a purpose, it is hard to get them to stop working!  We are hoping to make the Teen Weed Wrangle a recurring event.