Season 242 Episode 8287

S1 E48 - Your Yard Plays a Vital Role in Restoring a Healthy Wildlife Ecosystem and Fighting Climat

"Garden for Wildlife CEO Shubber Ali Explains How Planting Native Species Supports Native Birds and Sequesters Carbon http://on.s4g.biz/23jan24 AI Episode Summary 1. Shubber Ali is the CEO of Garden for Wildlife, which aims to educate people about native habitat protection and provides access to native plants for gardens, with a history extending from a program started by the National Wildlife Federation. 2. The initial focus of the program has been to protect species like the monarch butterfly and pollinators, creating certified wildlife habitats mainly in people’s yards and schools. 3. After moving from California to Maryland, Shubber transformed his lawn into a habitat for birds and pollinators by planting native species, inspired by Doug Tallamy’s book Nature's Best Hope, which emphasizes the importance of native plants for local ecosystems. 4. Shubber identified a core problem in the marketplace: the lack of supply of native plants, as most big box stores sell invasive species, harming local ecosystems. 5. Seeing an opportunity to address the problem, Shubber pitched a business plan to the National Wildlife Federation to create Garden for Wildlife, a company that would directly ship native plants to customers' doorsteps. 6. After a successful launch inside the National Wildlife Federation, Shubber proposed spinning Garden for Wildlife out as a separate company, with the Federation as the majority shareholder, employees as stakeholders, and bringing in outside investors. 7. They launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise additional working capital to scale operations, like building more greenhouses, offering different tiers of investment for shares in the company. 8. Garden for Wildlife's website features a native plant finder database, allowing customers to easily find plants that are native to their zip code, aiding in efficient and eco-friendly gardening. 9. Shubber touched on the connection between Garden for Wildlife’s mission and climate change at COP28, discussing how planting native species with deep root systems can help biodiversity, water absorption, and carbon sequestration. 10. Shubber invites interested parties to visit Invest.GardenforWildlife.com to read more about and participate in the investment offering, and he recommends reading Doug Tallamy’s book for a deeper understanding of the importance of supporting native plants for environmental health. http://superpowers4good.com "