The Delaware River Watershed encompasses over 13,500 sq. miles. The watershed is dwelling to over 4 million folks and provides water to over 13 million. Over 400 species of birds reside right here in a wide range of habitats, starting from the upland forests of New York’s Catskill Mountains to city areas like Philadelphia and Trenton and all the way down to the huge shores of the Delaware Bay. Such all kinds of habitats requires distinctive conservation wants, because of the several types of threats that happen all through the area. Within the central portion of the watershed that features Philadelphia, birds just like the Ruddy Duck and Louisiana Waterthrush depend on waterways and riparian habitats together with different city inexperienced areas as stopover places throughout migration and for breeding or wintering areas. Sadly, these habitats are threatened by interconnected challenges of water air pollution, habitat degradation, and local weather change.
Elevated flooding inflicts important harm on communities and habitats as storms turn into extra frequent and extra damaging due to local weather change. Along with inflicting pricey group and property harm, flooding additionally erodes streambanks and riverbanks that birds want, whereas rising stormwater runoff that may carry chemical pollution, grime, and trash into waterways. That is particularly prevalent in city areas the place older methods of stormwater management can combine stormwater with sewage; this polluted runoff then overflows into yard creeks and streams during times of heavy rain. As pure areas are changed by buildings and impermeable surfaces like roads and parking heaps, birds and different wildlife lose beneficial habitat. These hardened surfaces additionally scale back floor water absorption (or floor water recharge) that feeds waterways and improve water air pollution by rising stormwater runoff. Local weather change can also be fueling sea-level rise that’s submerging coastlines and related wetlands whereas steadily pushing the salt water line additional upstream. This intrusion of salt water threatens places the place folks and birds alongside the Delaware River require recent water. And, we all know that local weather change is straight threatening 389 species of birds with extinction until motion is taken now.
In Philadelphia, the most important city middle throughout the watershed and an City Hen Treaty Metropolis, Audubon Mid-Atlantic is working to deal with these threats. Audubon and group companions are revitalizing metropolis parkland and parcels of barren land in Southwest Philadelphia with native crops to assist scale back stormwater runoff and supply habitat for butterflies and different pollinators. These areas can even present stopover habitat for migratory birds just like the Black-throated Blue Warbler and Wooden Thrush. Group residents and college students play a key function in executing these initiatives whereas additionally influencing enhancements wanted in communal areas corresponding to vegetable gardens, meditation areas, and seating.
In Philadelphia’s Cobbs Creek Park, Audubon’s Whitby Meadows Ecological Restoration challenge, which additionally entails group companions, will enhance ecological situations for native birds, such because the Belted Kingfisher and Wooden Thrush. This challenge can even present habitat for pollinators and different forms of wildlife. Along with rising the variety of native crops that present meals and habitat for birds, this challenge will restore the well being of Cobbs Creek by bettering the riparian buffer zone, decreasing erosion, and eradicating plastic air pollution and trash.
Conserving inexperienced areas in cities like Philadelphia offers wholesome, pure habitat for birds and different forms of wildlife. And by defending and restoring city riparian or wetland habitats, we additionally present pure infrastructure that may assist to scale back flooding and water air pollution to the advantage of folks and birds alike. Birds and folks all through the Delaware River Watershed are benefiting from our on-the-ground conservation efforts.