Does your community have a pesticide-free park managed with organic practices? Do you wish it did?

Our allies at the national non-profit Beyond Pesticides is offering help through its Parks for a Sustainable Future program. The program provides in-depth training to assist community land managers in transitioning two public green spaces to organic landscape management, while aiming to provide the knowledge and skills necessary to eventually transition all public areas in a locality to these safer practices. The goal is to create models that show the viability and cost effectiveness of organic management systems that eliminate petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers that contribute to the current health crisis, biodiversity collapse, and the climate emergency.

You can get the ball rolling by becoming a Park Advocate. More info can be found here: Become a Parks Advocate — Beyond Pesticides. Beyond Pesticides is currently working with 19 park districts in 12 states. Among the pesticide-free parks are City Hall Field, Woodward Ave Park and Anastasia Field in Norwalk, Connecticut, which is right in Friends of Animals’ backyard, and Roosevelt Park and Garden Acres Park in Longmont, Colorado.

If you have any questions you can also email the Beyond Pesticides’ team at sustainableparks@beyondpesticides.org.