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Planet Wild urges homeowners to 'rewild' yards and previews Wilder app
Summary
Grama Gunther of Planet Wild framed private yards as central to conservation, described the Wilder score for assessing ecological value, and said a Wilder app and group accounts will be rolled out to support community-scale restoration.
Grama Gunther, vice president of science and development at Planet Wild, argued homeowners can play a central role in regional biodiversity by converting portions of lawn to native plantings and pocket forests. "Believe it or not, the new conservation frontier is the American land," Gunther said, urging residents to think of yards as sites for carbon capture and stormwater management.
Gunther introduced Planet Wild’s Wilder score — a composite that weighs ecosystem services, habitat diversity, biodiversity and yard management — and said the tool is backed by Doug Tallamy. He said Planet Wild used the Wilder self-assessment in a Lehi Lawn Mower Life challenge and had more than 18,000 participants across 49 states; the Wilder app (beta) will be unveiled during the next challenge for homeowner feedback and will include community/group accounts for cities and institutions.
