We're a leader in community-based habitat restoration, with projects to enrich habitat along the major waterways in Indianapolis (the White River, Fall Creek, Pogues Run, Pleasant Run, and Little Eagle Creek). We plan to increase new visual and physical access points along waterways in socially vulnerable neighborhoods by 28% and increase native landscape acreage across the city by 35% by 2024.
HOW DO WE DO IT?
We work with community and corporate volunteer groups to rip out invasive plant species (we see you, Asian bush honeysuckle!) and install beneficial native plants that stabilize river banks, provide more food for animals, and offer a clear a view to the water. While we're working together, our staff and Urban Naturalist team are educating volunteers about the importance of biodiversity, helping connect communities to their greenspaces, and creating functional habitat for our urban wildlife.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
VOLUNTEER
Volunteering with us on a habitat restoration project is an eye-opening experience. You'll get up close and personal with the ecological conditions we face here in Indianapolis. Learning about these issues and discussing them with your friends and family is a critical first step in making significant environmental change. Sign up to join us today!
PLANT NATIVE
We need native plants (and lots of kinds of them) to create the biodiversity that sustains life in our ecosystem. Our habitat restoration efforts restore healthy, Indiana native plants that attract the bugs, birds, and other animals that create a thriving environment.
Native plants are available at most nurseries and garden centers. You just have to know what they are!
Common native perennials sold at garden centers include Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Lanceleaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata), Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis), Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae), Blazing Star (Liatris spicata), Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifoliam). Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society (INPAWS) has a lot of resources on native plant types, planting tips, info on how you can help, and more.
PARTNERS FOR THE WHITE RIVER
KIB is a member of the Partners for the White River, a coalition of 14 nonprofit organizations in Indiana who are working to uplift, care for, and protect the White River. With generous grant funding from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, the Partners collaborate on projects related to protecting and improving the White River and associated waterways. In 2017 - 2020, KIB is implementing projects and plantings focused on improving water quality and the community's relationship with the river.
Our goal is to improve the health of the watershed and help residents of Central Indiana understand how they're related to the White River, why it is an important asset, and what they can do to care for it.
