| Restoring nature, one step at a time |
As is customary at Audubon, the mid-March solar equatorial crossing signals an uptick in our conservation, policy and public programs. This month’s newsletter is filled to the brim.
But I did want to highlight one program—our Baltimore team’s work to restore five acres of degraded Lakeland Park forest habitat in collaboration with Baltimore’s Department of Recreation and Parks, and, more importantly, with nearby residents. Over the past few months, Audubon staff have held community conversations to design a healthy and biodiverse forest with trails and signage to welcome people and plants to support migratory birds. Last month, work to remove invasives began, and next month, staff will lead planting efforts.
Some may argue that five acres of healthy forest doesn’t really make much of a difference in the large scheme of hemispheric environmental degradation and habitat loss. Shouldn’t we instead focus resources on efforts to protect and conserve huge tracts of public land or waters?
My answer is that I believe all people deserve easy access to places where nature might help them heal, transcend and find joy. For city residents, these spaces might be small, but their impact is great.
I recently finished “A Walk in the Park,” by Kevin Fedarko, about his on-foot trip through the Grand Canyon. Fedarko puts my belief into words far more eloquent than I could ever write. Reflecting on day trippers that he meets during his nearly 800-mile trek, he realizes that they are, in fact, “pilgrims” because they had traveled to a place “that would enable them to feel profoundly diminished and radically expanded in the same breath. They were pilgrims because there is something sacred in the belief that despite its ugliness and its many disparities, there are still places in our fallen and shattered world where wonder abides. But most of all, they were pilgrims because they were seeking their benedictions on foot, the simplest and humblest means of all. Which meant that they were going for a walk in the park.”
I hope all of you enjoy your own walks in a park this month.
Best,
Suzanne |
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