Can Forgotten Cemeteries Help Restore Biodiversity? – Food Tank

Friends of Warren Ferris Cemetery, a nonprofit based in Dallas, Texas, is working to turn cemeteries into sanctuaries for wildlife and native plants.

For more than a century, Warren Angus Ferris’ graveyard was a neglected place overgrown with invasive plant species. But in 2018 local resident Julie Ann Fineman decided to restore the land and regain its historical and environmental value. “I realized that the country is a gem for the community and for the city,” Fineman told Food Tank.

Fineman began recruiting neighbors, raising funds for restoration, and starting a nonprofit organization. Once established, the group removed invasive vegetation so that native species could bloom. To date, Friends of Warren Ferris Cemetery has documented 50 different species, including slender verbena or Texas verbena, narrow-leaved rock seeds, sunflowers, and junipers.

“Converting these neglected landscapes to native plants would correspond to sustainability benefits,” says Fineman. These measures can promote favorable conditions for pollinators such as bees, birds, beetles, butterflies, flies, moths, and wasps. Their presence also prevents soil erosion and enables sustainable food production.

Today Friends of Warren Ferris Cemetery are working to preserve the cemetery landscape. You want to see new native plants like Chinkapin Oak Bois’d’Arc and local cacti thrive without watering.

“This environment could be home to a variety of the 125 rare, threatened, and endangered animals listed by Texas Parks and Wildlife as most in need of protection,” Fineman told Food Tank. She hopes these efforts will attract species like the monarch butterfly, which migrates annually from Canada to Mexico, bald eagles, western rabbit owls, and Texas lizards.

The organization also runs the Native Plants Identified program to document native plants. The project encourages visitors to the cemetery to upload three photos of a plant to their iNaturalist page to help identify new species. By encouraging visitors to learn about new species, Fineman hopes residents will replace traditional lawns with native plants that can serve as small nature reserves.

It is also important to communicate the relevance of the area, says Fineman. The organization is working on an eight-part documentary series about its work – the first three have already been completed and can be found on its website.

Friends of Warren Ferris Cemetery is also planning to partner with Dallas public schools to restore biodiversity to the area. “Imagine a national effort to restore habitat corridors that have been lost to urbanization to provide food and shelter for wildlife,” Fineman told Food Tank. “Education is critical to creating awareness and bringing about change.”

Photo courtesy Julie Fineman

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