Tonji and Sylvia's Wildlife Refuge

Here are 10 reasons why you should build your own wildlife sanctuary.

1. There’s a good chance your government won’t do it for you. Unless you live in some forward thinking country that recognizes the inherent value of its biodiversity, there will most likely be less and less natural spaces where wildlife can flourish and that you can access in your future. I recently heard of a group of 10 friends that banded together to buy 10 adjoining parcels of undeveloped land. They all agreed to each build on a small area and keep the rest of the area green so that they would have a big green space to enjoy! Imagine if more and more people had that mindset? There could be corridors of green criss-crossing the country!

2. You will be spoiled by all the birds. It’s amazing how nature can bounce back when given the opportunity and a helpful nudge. You will find yourself saying things like,”Oh, it’s just 3 Coppersmith Barbets in front of the cottage.” instead of “I remember back in the day, many years ago, there were more birds and you could see them easily, and now there are none.”

3. White-eared Brown Doves and Philippine Bulbuls from the comfort of your veranda. Aside from the usual garden birds, you will get forest birds. It really is true that if you build it, they will come. In this case, if you provide the habitat, they will come!

4. Baby munias feasting on seeds. What could be cuter than a flock of baby birds?

5. You will have fun. Of course it’s not just the birds and wildlife that are having fun. You will have so much fun too! You want to walk around in a camouflage cape and try to sneak up on ducks so you can photograph them without disturbing them? You can do it!

6. You will come up with so many fun projects. Your mind will open up when you’re outside surrounded by wide vistas. You’ll come up with all sorts of ideas that might not have occurred to you before. When we visited the sanctuary time we thought, let’s make a small hide in the Big Pond so we can view the ducks without disturbing them.

7. You will make your dogs happy. They might even become the happiest dogs you know. Outdoorsy dogs will definitely approve of your sanctuary. This sanctuary was also approved by the original farm dogs Momo the dachshund and Barkley the Boston Terrier.

8. Watching ducks instead of your phone. You get to sit down on a grassy bank in the afternoon to see and hear Philippine Ducks settling down for the day.

9. You can restore what was destroyed. In an ideal scenario, you could acquire a forest or other type of habitat that’s rich with wildlife and protect it. But that’s highly unlikely. Chances are the properties that are available are bare or denuded or over-farmed or choked up with weeds. This is ok! You don’t need to start from pristine land to make a sanctuary!

Here’s a powerful quote from FORRU-CMU:

Tropical forests, once destroyed, are lost forever” – NOT TRUE. It is possible to transform largely deforested landscapes into tropical forest that supports rich biodiversity in just a few years.

In just a few years! Not decades! They even have a free book that shows you how. Click on the link below to download the book.
Restoring Tropical Forests by FORRU-CMU

10. You will make the world a little bit better! Who doesn’t want a better world? You don’t have to wait for the government or a big foundation to take action. You can start small. You can team up with like-minded friends. You can be the change you want to see!