It was lunchtime at Cloves Lake Park in Staten Island, and several groups of people who had volunteered to plant trees were sitting on the grass, sharing stories, and enjoying the grilled vegetables and mozzarella lunch that was provided for the volunteers. Closer to the forest were the stacked, now-empty pots in which the trees had arrived at the park. Those empty pots are to be returned to the tree growers to be used again in Pennsylvania, Long Island, New Jersey, and Maryland (New York really is a green city!).
One of the New York City Parks Department officials in charge of the event, Minona Heaviland, spoke to the volunteers about the Earth Day event. Citywide, there were 1,200 volunteers planting nearly 20,000 trees, she said. “The main objective here is restoring multistory forests.”
Many of the trees in the forest suffer from invasive plants like knotweed and catbrier, which both take over the soil and don’t allow anything else to grow, she said. These invasive plants destroy the food source for the wildlife in the forest.
After talking with Heaviland, the volunteers got back to work. Beyond some old trees, there was a line of people working with the newer trees that were to be planted. Some volunteers were cleaning out the holes that were pre-dug by the Parks Department while others were on their knees securing the trees they had placed in the holes.
As the event came to a close, many of the volunteers were happy to be a part of something productive. “It feels good,” said one high school volunteer. Another said she felt very useful. Another volunteer boasted of the trees her group planted, and said that she “feels great.” One child said it was cool to be digging and planting as she explained she had planted three trees.