Who We Are About Us The Kateri Conservation Center is a Catholic land trust and online nature center that promotes Catholic faith, integral ecology, and life. We envision a faithful, loving home on Earth for all people and the whole of God’s creation.

We were founded in 2000 and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in 2012.

Catholic Religious Expression Saint Kateri Tekakwitha At least one Catholic religious expression is Saint Kateri Tekakwitha is the required in each Saint Kateri Habitat. This of Native Americans and First Nations may include crosses, , grottos, Peoples, integral ecology, and the stations of the cross, Saint Kateri Habitat environment. Born in 1656, Saint Kateri is Saint Kateri’s original habitat at her National signs, or statues of Mary or a saint. These an eyewitness to the land before much of it in Fonda, NY. religious expressions remind us that God – would later be damaged or destroyed. the Holy Spirit – is present and active in every corner of creation. Contact Us SAINT KATERI How to Get Started Email: [email protected] Visit our website at www.Kateri.org to learn Web: www.Kateri.org HABITAT & more about creating a Saint Kateri Habitat. Instagram: saintkatericenter While there, you can take a virtual tour of Facebook and Twitter: @SaintKateriCtr PARISH our habitats with our online story maps. POLLINATORS You can register your habitat and read our extensive Catholic ecology library on our website at www.Kateri.org. SAINT KATERI Restoring Healthy Habitats CONSERVATION CENTER for People and Wildlife, May God bless you. Saint Kateri, pray for us. Wading River, NY 11792 Within the Catholic Faith Laudato Si’ Francis urges us to protect Sister Earth, emphasizing an integral ecology that connects social and environmental concerns.

“We are Catholics conserving creation and restoring faith, in How it Works the footsteps of Saint Kateri Anyone can transform their yard, garden, or farm into Saint Kateri Habitat. Our habitats and Saint .” provide at least three of the following elements, plus one religious expression:

• Food, water, cover, and space for wildlife.

Habitat for People and Wildlife • Native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. The Saint Kateri HabitatTM Program engages • Food, water, cover, and space for people, Catholics and others to restore yards, Saint Kateri Habitat including vegetable gardens and farms. gardens, farms, forests, rivers, and wetlands Program as healthy habitats for people and wildlife. • Ecosystem services, such as pollination, carbon storage for climate regulation, Background With a focus on God and Catholic faith, the clean water, and religious faith arising Ecology has a long history in the Church, Habitat Program supports sacred spaces for from the “Book of Nature.” going back to the first pages of the Bible, people to directly engage in the care of God’s • Clean energy and sustainable practices of where humankind is called to “cultivate and creation, at home and where we work. gardening, landscaping, and farming. care for” creation. Saint John Paul II and Our Parish PollinatorsTM initiative supports Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI shared this • Sacred spaces for prayer and parishes in establishing habitats for bees, message often. contemplation, including Mary gardens. butterflies, and other life-supporting Virtually any habitat can be treated as a In 2015, Pope Francis issued Laudato Si’, the pollinators (and people!). sacred space, giving thanks to our Creator. first encyclical devoted entirely to ecology Saint Kateri Habitats build faith, provide Register your habitat at www.Kateri.org. and the environment. food, reduce climate change, protect land and water, and restore our relationships with God, people, and nature.