Natural Lands - the magazine of Natural Lands spring-summer 2020 issue | Page 4

2
news
gardens on guard.
illustration by
Alexander Lebron
spotted
lanternfly
(nymph and
adult forms)
First launched in 2011, the Sentinel Plant
Network is a collaboration between the
American Public Gardens Association
and the National Plant Diagnostic Network.
The program relies on public gardens
to serve as early detectors for new
or existing plant pests and diseases.
As a new member of the Sentinel Plant
Network, Stoneleigh: a natural garden
joins 250 gardens across the continent
that regularly contribute reports and observations
about pathogens and pests
they observe on their properties.
Once problem pests—like gypsy moth
caterpillars, emerald ash borers, or spotted
lanternflies—establish themselves
in a new region, it is incredibly costly to
manage them, both in terms of environmental
impact and economic loss. In
most cases, eradication and containment
programs are most effective when
the organism is identified early on.
“As our climate changes, plants that
have thrived in our region are under
stress from warming temperatures,
making them even more vulnerable to
new diseases and destructive insects,”
said Ethan Kauffman, director of Stoneleigh.
“Public gardens like Stoneleigh
and many others in the region can play
an important role in helping to sound
an early alarm for the plant pests and
pathogens of tomorrow.” W
buy the best. zone the rest.
At Natural Lands, we’re all about open space, but we recognize that
vibrant communities grow and change. Which is why we offer our services
to help municipal leaders make smart, conservation-minded choices for
development.
Schuylkill Township in Chester County recently took an additional step
in its longstanding commitment to land conservation with the adoption of
Natural Lands’ progressive zoning ordinances.
When land is developed, there is an opportunity to add to community open
space, provided the municipality’s code has been updated to favor conservation.
Natural Lands’ ground-breaking Growing Greener: Conservation by
Design approach helps save an average of 62 percent of land in new developments
as open space.
Schuylkill Township’s ordinance updates received partial funding support
from the William Penn Foundation’s Delaware River Watershed Initiative,
which seeks to protect water quality in the Delaware River Basin. W
this approach
helps save an
average of
62%
of land in new
developments
as open space.