The Long Island Conservancy

“Restoring Habitat Throughout Long Island.”

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead

Restoring Habitat By Supporting Local Stewards

We are dedicated to restoring habitat in your community. Is there a park that plays an important role in your life? Maybe it’s your dog walk. Maybe it’s where you jog or cycle, or push a baby carriage or wheelchair, or hike with your family or friends. There is not a park on Long Island large or small, that is not under serious threat now, and it will be up to those who most love and need that park who will play the largest role in restoring and protecting that park.

The Long Island Conservancy is happy to advise you as to what your best course of action would be. Are there invasive plants to be removed? What would grow best where we’d be doing the restoration?

Read how local steward Rona Fried is helping to remove invasive plants in West Hills County Park

Restoring Habitat By Planting A Pollinator Garden

As Co-Chairs and contributing authors to Suffolk County’s Pollinator Taskforce, we are actively seeking locations across Long Island where pollinator gardens would best be planted. We will be posting a map of preferred locations on the site so that we could find a local steward for that garden. We will specify what plants should go in each location and their proper care.

Restoring Habitat By Turning A Sump Into A Sanctuary

The Long Island Conservancy is seeking to convert some of the many sumps in Nassau and Suffolk County into nature preserves for birds, bees, and butterflies. There are about 1000 in each county. What if they weren’t mosquito-ridden, garbage strewn pit overrun with invasive plants, but a long refuge alive with life? A sump turned into a bird sanctuary — we can do this!

Restoring Habitat By Planting Native Yards

The Long Island Conservancy has been much inspired by the work of Prof. Douglas Tallamy, and we are hardly alone. He is through his works and lectures has deeply informed people about how essential it is that we plant native plantings en masse so that there is enough habitat to support our native species as so many are now facing extinction.

We support civic groups throughout the island that are dedicated to “rewilding,” to “going native.” There is nothing more rewarding than to witness the return of native wildlife. We can each make that little miracle happen, and right in our yards. Visit Homegrown National Park to see a movement in formation, and represent for Long Island!

Restoring Habitat: The American Chestnut!

We are growing and planting American Chestnut saplings in anticipation that they will be cross-pollinated in time so that 50% of the next generation will be blight resistant. We gather the chestnuts locally from remnant trees, hand-pollinate, then grow them. We seek to plant “mother orchards of eight” across Long Island. We estimate the Chestnut blight killed 100,000 of these magnificent trees. A cure is at hand. Help us make history.

Restoring Habitat: Help Us Battle Invasive Plants!

Long Island is losing badly in a battle it doesn’t know it is even fighting. With The Dirty Dozen Campaign, launched in conjunction with The Town of North Hempstead, The Science Museum of Long Island and Sands Point Preserve, seeks to raise awareness as to how plants like Japanese Knotweed, Oriental Bittersweet, English Ivy, and a host of others are rapidly destroying what is left of native habitat here on Long Island.

The first step we all need to take is to learn what we are looking at. Get a plant identifier app on your phone. PictureThis! or Google Lens, iNaturalist. Once you see what we are in fact up against, you can’t unsee it. Then we get to work to remove it!

Restoring Habitat: Join Our Native Planting Community!