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After the Nansemond River Preservation Alliance reported the same areas of the Nansemond River as condemned in their annual State of the River Reports, NRPA President and CEO Beth Cross decided it was time to take action.

Cross quickly realized that people in the community are blaming the city for not doing more, but the city is doing everything it’s supposed to. So, she wanted to approach the problem differently and encourage individuals to do what they can in their own yards.

“The Suffolk Nature Project was like an entry point for everyone to do something in their own backyard, or even on their patio if you live in an apartment,” she said. “Just the idea that paying attention, that we’re a part of this ecosystem, like, when we keep things alive, they keep us alive.”

It’s not about being a “tree hugger,” or having a green thumb, Cross added. It’s about teaching people simple ways to improve the nature around them.

“We really want to increase biodiversity,” Cross said. “We want to improve water quality, and we want to engage the community in a better environmental culture.”

The NRPA and Suffolk Public Schools have a strong partnership that allows students to have field trips that focus on environmental stewardship. When this partnership started, Cross said she noticed students weren’t very knowledgeable on how to engage with nature.

Kings Fork High School biology teacher Tonya Bangley said she was inspired to join the NRPA Board of Directors because of the partnership’s beneficial effects on her students. She said it’s been a “really good, positive experience.” 

KFHS currently partners with NRPA on three environmental initiatives that promote the students as mentors and teachers.

One of them involves KFHS students teaching Kings Fork Middle School students about the National Watershed Initiative Program. The lessons are supplemented by outdoor activities, including participating in an oyster garden project at Sleepy Hole Park.

Paige Spellmann, a KFHS senior, participated in one of the NRPA and KFHS marsh field studies at Bennetts Creek Park and said she enjoyed it more than she anticipated. 

In addition to the oyster garden at Sleepy Hole Park, the NRHS ecology club also monitors sites at Chuckatuck and Hoffler Creek. They are hoping to expand their gardening efforts and start a new site at a students home that will be completely maintained by the club.

The ecology club also monitors water quality at riparian buffer sites at Sleepy Hole Park. These buffers are areas alongside water resources plated with native species that provide protection from pollution, bank stabilization, and are a wildlife habitat. 

“It’s just nice to have partners that value the students and value giving the students the experience to become the type of environmental stewards that we want them to be,” Bangley said. 

Outside of schools, the Suffolk Nature Project promotes people getting outside, familiarizing themselves with their environment, and doing something they enjoy. It could be as simple as going on a walk or noticing the different bird songs, Cross said.

Another goal of the Suffolk Nature Project is to get people to plant at least one native plant in their yards. Cross said this is inspired by Homegrown National Park and focuses on the idea that since most U.S. land is privately owned, it can’t only be left to conservation areas to promote biodiversity.

The NRPA also encourages people not to be so eager to mow their lawns on the first day it feels like spring because many “valuable ecosystem indicators,” such as lighting bugs and caterpillars, can be inhibited if the grass is mowed too early. 

Since the project started in November, Cross said it’s hard to tell what the impact has been so far. She said they plan to monitor the growth of the project through the Homegrown National Park website, and hopes to see the number of people participating in Suffolk grow.

“We’re hoping, with just planting one plant, some people will go further and start to see a space for native plants,” she said. “And what it ends up becoming is more like a gas station all over the city, where birds and bees and butterflies can stop over. And while it’s really nice, they’re pretty, it’s also we forget, like, these are natural things we need.”