Review: A Healthy Nature Handbook: Illustrated Insights for Ecological Restoration from Volunteer Stewards of Chicago Wilderness

Abstract

Imagine what a city park looked like before it was a park. Was it a wetland? Prairie? Grassland? What native flora and fauna frolicked where the drainage pipe now comes out? How about a backyard? Before it was a lawn, before it was a vegetable garden, or before the urban chickens took over, what was there? As cities and suburbs grow and take more land, as once lush forest and grasslands become absorbed into the urban landscape, as animals and native plant populations dwindle, we look for ways to restore the native habitats that are just distant memories. A Healthy Nature Handbook is an illustrated guide on how to restore natural areas.