Renowned entomologist Dr. Doug Tallamy will present a MetroWest Climate Solutions (MCS) webinar on restoring biodiversity, one yard at a time, on May 19 at 7 p.m. To register, click here.

Native plants are a powerful tool to help fight pollution, floods, record breaking heat waves, sea-level rise, and mass extinction of species. Native plants have evolved to sustain the diversity of animals we need to maintain our ecosystems. Only native plants can support the insects that provide an essential food source for the hundreds of species of birds, bats, lizards, bears, foxes and other creatures that depend on them. These species and native plants are interdependent, and they are critical to our survival.

By saving wildlife with native plants, we also battle climate change. Our native grasses have deep roots that make them drought resistant, reduce soil erosion and flooding, filter pollutants from ground water and increase rainwater infiltration. These plants remove tons of carbon from the atmosphere and pump it into the soil, out of harm’s way. Nothing sequesters carbon and manages watersheds as well as native forests. For more information on Dr. Tallamy’s work, visit homegrownnationalpark.org.

This event is funded by First Parish in Wayland’s Lydia Maria Child fund, which supports activism and social justice activities.

MetroWest Climate Solutions is a growing partnership between First Parish in Wayland, First Parish Church in Weston, First Parish in Lincoln, the Congregational Church of Weston, and other communities and individuals. Our mission is to share strategies for moving towards a low- and no-carbon-based society and economy and to suggest activities that enable individuals to help bring about solutions. For more information, visit: www.metrowestclimatesolutions.org.