The Board of Selectmen has approved a policy that will encourage all plantings on town-owned property to consist of native plants.

A native plant, according to the policy, “is a plant that occurs naturally in a particular region. It has not been cultivated by human intervention. These plants have co-evolved over time to develop complex and essential relationships with pollinators, birds, and other wildlife species in a given ecological community.”

The proposal that was approved September 9 originated from the Conservation Commission and is intended to “maximize the use of appropriate native plants on municipal properties to help mitigate the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation from development and proliferation of non-native/exotic plantings in our town landscapes.”

The Board of Selectmen, said First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, is ultimately responsible for town properties and is the only board that needs to approve the policy.

“This is certainly worthwhile,” Rosenthal said. “From a maintenance standpoint, it makes the most sense.”

Rosenthal noted one caveat to the policy is that current town projects, such as the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial, will be exempt. While he said he thinks the memorial “comes close, if not 100%” to adhering to using all native plants,” he said that redoing the design would be a “significant expense.”

“The memorial is significantly into development,” said Rosenthal.

The proposal note, “Native plants are important for maintaining healthy ecosystems.” They promote healthy watersheds by filtering pollutants, stabilizing banks, and providing food for macroinvertibrates that in turn feed fish and other aquatic species.

The policy states that native trees are more efficient at sequestering carbon than introduced species, creating healthy ecosystems essential for human health. Native pollinators and many wildlife species rely on the native plants for survival. Healthy pollinators and wildlife species have a role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Use of native plants in developed landscapes will help create connected and stable plant and animal populations.

Conservation Commission Chairman Holly Kocet said she hopes Newtown can “serve as an example” to land owners in town, as well as to neighboring towns, for “what must be done to preserve and maintain healthy ecosystems.”

Deputy Director of Land Use Rob Sibley stated he knew the policy would “run into some speed bumps” as it was championed by Kocet. He also said that most town plans utilize native plants “by default,” as most non-native plantings were “removed from the pool of available plantings by state regulation a decade ago.”

He said that 75% of plantings used at the Fairfield Hills complex projects were native, with the rest being hybridized maples and oaks that were available at nurseries at the time of the project.

Sibley said he “heartily endorses” native plants, as they “lessen the need for pesticides” and require “less maintenance on the town side.”

Some small changes were made to Kocet’s document, primarily changing it from an ordinance to a policy. Rosenthal stated that as an ordinance, it would need to go to the Legislative Council. Since it only applied to town-owned property, and said property was under the purview of the Board of Selectmen, making it an ordinance would require “unnecessary extra steps.”

Rosenthal said it would be “beneficial” to advertise the ordinance to the community, so the town could “lead by example.” While the ordinance doesn’t affect any property other than what the town owns, he hopes that it will encourage homeowners to do the same.

“We can’t tell homeowners what to do on their property, but we can hope they’ll follow our lead,” said Kocet.

Reporter Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.