April 22, 2011
 When talking about the Philadelphia Zoo, your first thought will likely turn to lions, and tigers, and bears (oh my!). Trees aren’t likely the first things that spring to mind.
But maybe they should be.
As a global leader in conservation, the Philadelphia Zoo strives to protect, and in many cases restore, habitat for animals throughout the world — an ongoing project that has the added benefit of helping to offset our carbon footprint.
Right in our own backyard, the Zoo, the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Temple’s Department of Landscape Architecture, and Fairmount Park have joined together for a reforestation project that has already added 325 new trees to the park.
“We are focusing on about 10 different areas of Fairmount Park. We’ll plant 250 to 300 more trees this spring and that amount again in the fall,” said Valerie Peckham, Philadelphia Zoo Conservation Program Manager. “Between the two plantings this year we will have two of the 10 areas completed. Our ultimate goal is to plant 2,000 trees and at our current pace, we should be able to meet that goal in about three years.”
According to Grace Chapman, Horticulture Staff Supervisor at the Ambler Arboretum, Temple has agreed to provide 600 trees to aid in the efforts to reforest 8 acres of Fairmount Park. Eva Monheim, Senior Lecturer in Horticulture, has worked directly with 30 Temple students on seed collection, sowing, and cutting propagation for the project, she said.
“Our original goal was to educate Temple students about proper seed collection, storage, and propagation as well as to propagate our Arboretum collection to protect it in the future,” Chapman said. “Ecosystem restoration is an important process that is supported by our mission of sustainability, so the partnership with the Zoo and Fairmount Park was a logical fit. I think it is important that Temple supports community projects with goals similar to ours.”
 The efforts at Temple were first initiated by student Mark Raczynski as a hands-on project to learn more about propagation, said Monheim.
“Our most recent planting session was in February and we replanted many plants that were pot-bound,” she said. “We will continue to monitor the growth of the plants and we are hoping to have the first group of seedlings going into Fairmount Park in the fall of 2011. The hands-on experiences that this project provides to our students and beyond is invaluable.”
Peckham said the Fairmount Park Project has three main goals.
“We want to restore habitat for wildlife and improve forest connectivity in Fairmount Park, increase local appreciation for the natural world and reduce global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide through reforestation,” she said. “It can be difficult to be completely carbon neutral. Contributing to reforestation efforts like the Fairmount Park project, as well as our work in Borneo, can help others offset those emissions they can’t reduce. ”
In Borneo, Peckham said, the seeds are collected and started by area community members and purchased as seedlings for the project — 860 trees have been planted so far. The native fruit bearing trees provide essential habitat and food sources for orangutans. In Philadelphia — where support from groups as diverse as the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Tree Tenders program and TreeVitalize to the Junior League of Philadelphia and Federal Express has been essential to the success of the project — the focus is on providing habitat for migratory birds, she said.
 “Wildlife habitat restoration is at the heart of this project, but trees are also extremely valuable to humans. They keep our water healthy by control stormwater runoff and filtering pollutants and clean the air that we breathe,” Peckham said. “This project will also help support the City of Philadelphia’s goal to plant 300,000 trees by 2015 and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s recently launched Plant One Million campaign. The project is a great long term initiative that gives people throughout the region an opportunity to get involved in their community and support the environment in a way that isn’t time intensive.”
At Temple University Ambler, the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture has received a $25,000 grant for the Fairmount Park Project through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Five Star Restoration Program. The funding will support Temple’s efforts to raise healthy seedlings to restore urban forests and to educate University and area students in the reforestation process, said Chapman.
“The funding will be used to build a shade house to house all of the seedlings being grown by Eva and her students,” she said. “A portion of the grant will also be used to sponsor two seed collecting workshops and two tree planting workshops. These workshops will be led by Temple staff and students and will be administered to eighth graders from the Germantown Friends School.”
According to Peckham, there truly is no “end point” to the reforestation project. Students, faculty, and volunteers from the multitude of organizations involved, “won’t just plant the trees and forget about them,” she said.
“The wonderful thing about this project is that it will go on for generations. Volunteers will see real manifestations of their conservation efforts through the trees that they helped grow and nurture,” Peckham said. “Hopefully this will help them build a lasting connection with nature and realize that animals aren’t the only ones who need trees. People need them too.”
To learn more about the Philadelphia Zoo and the Fairmount Park Project visit www.philadelphiazoo.org. Individuals groups interested in become part the project, should call 215-243-5347. For more information about the Ambler Arboretum, visit www.ambler.temple.edu/arboretum/index.htm. |
