Backyard Wildlife Habitat

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Backyard Wildlife Habitat is a program of the National Wildlife Federation that encourages homeowners in the United States to manage their yards with the goal of maintaining healthy and diverse animal ecosystems. The program began in 1973, by 1998 was known to have impacted more than 21,000 yards, and and as of 2006 has certified over 60,000 backyards.^{[1] [2] [3]} To be certified, a yard (any outdoor space from a balcony up to a multi-acre tract of land) must offer food, water, shelter, and a place for raising young to beneficial insects or animals.^[4] Over time the Federation has introduced variants or expansions of the program for schoolyards and for communities.

Prior to 2004 there was no scientific study as to whether backyard habitats actually help butterflies. A study published in 2004 of the effect on Battus philenor in the San Francisco area found that gardens where the host plants were more than 40 years old, the gardens were as good as natural sites, where the host plants were less than eight years old the species was unlikely to visit, and in between the butterflies laid eggs but these had an inferior survival rate.^[5]

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