Create and Certify Your Own Wildlife Habitat

Gardening for wildlife is fun, inexpensive, and an easy way to make a lasting impact for wildlife.

Tennessee Wildlife Federation is committed to wildlife habitat conservation, big and small. So, we’ve partnered with National Wildlife Federation (NWF) to help you create a wildlife haven in your own yard—whether you have a rolling rural property, a tiny urban lot, or a container garden on your balcony.

But you don’t have to stop at home. You can even take on certifying your school, your church, or even your entire community—just like Knoxville did.

After all, 90 percent of Tennessee’s land is in private hands. That means providing the basics for our diverse wildlife is up to you!

Get started with NWF

Every Certified Wildlife Habitat provides wildlife the essentials

Food

Water

Hunters for the Hungry distributing food

Cover

Venison snack sticks, courtesy of the Hunters for the Hungry program

Places to raise young

Sustainable practices

Food

Native plants provide food eaten by a variety of wildlife. Feeders can supplement natural food sources. To certify, your habitat needs just three food sources, such as foliage and pollen from native plants, a bird feeder, and suet.

Water

All wildlife need water to survive, and some need it for bathing or breeding as well. To certify, your habitat needs at least one water source, such as a stream, bird bath, or butterfly puddling area.

Cover

Wildlife need places to take shelter from bad weather, hide from predators, or hunt for prey. To certify, your habitat needs a minimum of two places to find shelter, such as dense shrubs, a brush pile, or a wooded area.

Places to raise young

Wildlife needs resources to reproduce as well as to protect and nourish their young. To certify, your habitat needs at least two places wildlife can raise young, such as a nesting box, mature trees, or a thicket.

Sustainable Practices

Maintain your yard or garden in natural ways to ensure soil, air, and water stay healthy and clean. To certify, you need to use at least two sustainable practices, such as soil and water conservation, controlling exotic species, and organic maintenance methods.

Get started with NWF

Meet Tony

Tony Lance headshot With the help of Tony Lance, our resident naturalist, ornithologist and gardening guru, you can put your commitment to conservation in action. When we each do our part, we can keep Tennessee the most biologically diverse inland state in the country.

The application processing fee is just $20 and you’ll receive a certificate to designate your newly Certified Wildlife Habitat. You’ll also receive exclusive NWF member benefits while supporting conservation statewide.