Wildlife Habitats of South Woodlawn (WHoSW)

What Does This Mean?

This means that the South Woodlawn Neighborhood is officially recognized by a major organization as providing suitable habitat for wildlife.

This is exciting for several reasons:

• we are the first community in the state to be officially certified;

• having this recognition from the NWF adds value to our community and South Knoxville as a whole;

• the certification fits in with the South Knoxville, urban wilderness trend/branding and will hopefully attract people, businesses and homebuyers who will improve the quality of our community;

• the certification process helped bring the neighborhood closer through educational and recreational programs that helped us achieve this common goal.

You can learn more abut Community Wildlife Habitats on the National Wildlife Federation website.

How Do We Get Certified?

It's actually very simple: Any site can be certified regardless of size and all you have to do is make your yard wildlife friendly by providing 4 basic elements:

Four Basic Elements for Your Yard

1. FOOD: you need (3) food sources. This can be nectar, seeds, birdfood, berries, plants etc.

2. WATER: you need (1) watter source ... this can be a pond or a birdbath

3. SHELTER: you need (2) forms of shelter: this can be rock pils, brush, log pile, dense shrubs, wooded area etc.

4. PLACE TO RAISE YOUNG: you need (2) - mature trees, nesting box, water garden/pong, dense shrubs, etc.

Once you have provided these 4 elements, fill out the Habitat Certification Application. You can find this online: [www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife] or we can provide you with one to mail in.

When you have completed the application, you mail it along with $20 to the NWF.

Why Did We Want To Do This?

Here's a few reasons we believe it this project is worthwhile:

1. You are offering wildlife a place to thrive;

2. You have the pride of being certified by the NWF;

3. You get a free one year membership to NWF which includes a subscription to the magazine National Wildlife and 10% off all NWF merchandise;

4. Your home will be included in the NWF's national registry of habitats;

5. You can get a cool looking sign for bragging rights;

6. Probably the most important thing, is that your participation in this process will bring a lot of REALLY AWESOME ATTENTION TO OUR NEIGHBORHOOD AND TO SOUTH KNOXVILLE! This is a BIG DEAL. WE WILL BE THE VERY FIRST IN THE WHOLE STATE!

Want to volunteer or keep up to date with our Wilderness Habitat Project? Sign up for our new group here.

Check back as we continue to add information about this exciting project to our website.