Conservation: 2023 In Review

Conservation has long been part of the CGC’s work, but in 2023, we recognized it as a cornerstone of what we do. We formalized this commitment by establishing the full-time position of Conservation Program Manager. Having a staff person dedicated to conservation has allowed us to expand our efforts and build new collaborations.

Treeforestation

Our Treeforestation program has always been about more than just planting trees. The program was created as a multifaceted approach to forest habitat restoration and invasive species removal. This year we took on a new project: collaborating with Cincinnati Parks and the Walnut Hills Bio-Eco Club to install a native prairie at Walnut Woods of Evanston! This prairie will strengthen the edge of the forest against sun-loving invasive plants looking to creep inward, provide new habitat for insects and birds, and give students a tangible example of another habitat they learn about in the classroom. We hope this prairie will be an example to those looking to convert turf grass into prairie habitat. As the plants wake up this spring, we’ll be sure to report on their progress.

We also took a different approach this year with our tree planting efforts at both of our current Treeforestation sites, St. Xavier and Walnut Hills High Schools. In the past, we’ve followed nature’s approach of planting large quantities with the understanding that not all will make it. This year, we took the quality approach, placing caging around each tree that was planted in both sites. While it looks unnatural across the landscape, the caging provides ample protection from deer predation, is a more effective marker than a flag, and will allow us to keep better multi-year records on how the baby trees are doing and provide additional maintenance or care that they may need.

ReRooted

Our ReRooted Program entered its third year in 2023. Over those three years, we have learned a lot about cultivating native plants in an urban environment. This past year, volunteers helped us construct an onsite hoop house to expand our propagation space—a big step for our efforts and a major help to the plants! We also sold our own CGC-propagated plants at and after our Fall Native Plant Festival. We love knowing that thousands of native plants we grew from seed are now spread across the Cincinnati area!

We‘ve tried to narrow our focus to grow species that will survive tough urban habitats and support a wide variety of pollinators. This year, our focus will be on creating more intentional pollinator packages and designs to help guide people who want to install these plants in their home, school or community garden spaces.

Cincinnati Conservation Stewards (CCS)

In 2023, we launched a new partnership with Cincinnati Parks and the Cincinnati Parks Foundation to train volunteers working in public parks. Cincinnati’s more than 3,500 acres of forested parks are overrun with invasive plants that displace native vegetation, reduce biodiversity and ruin recreational opportunities for people.

Through Cincinnati Conservation Stewards (CCS), we’re working with the Cincinnati Parks Conservation and Land Management Division to provide volunteers with the knowledge and training they need to properly remove invasive plants and assist in the long-term maintenance of our beautiful parks. By training individuals to lead their own groups of volunteers within each park, we can greatly increase the number of volunteers working on this massive problem.

This year, we began working with roughly 50 volunteers working across six parks. These individuals are acting as leaders trained to do cut-stump herbicide application and lead other volunteers in the field. They played a crucial role in supporting the 9,000+ volunteer hours focused on conservation efforts in 2023 within Cincinnati Parks.

Urban Restoration Coalition

In 2023, we began working with several local partners—including Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, Groundwork Ohio River Valley and Green Umbrella—to form the Urban Restoration Coalition. These partners have come together to figure out how to better support urban greenspace projects in Greater Cincinnati, especially in neighborhoods that have little to no access to healthy greenspace. Projects like community gardens, tree plantings and pollinator gardens can easily be completed with proper funding, but maintaining them can be difficult. The Urban Restoration Coalition is committed to figuring out how to better support the long-term maintenance of these crucial greenspaces in ways that engage community members.

Education Opportunities

Since its inception, the CGC has been teaching people how to garden. Through classes and hands-on workshop, homeowners and community gardeners have been coming to us to learn how to cultivate plants. In the face of climate change and habitat loss, our home gardens play a more important ecological role than ever before. Accordingly, in recent years, the CGC has shifted away from the ornamental gardening practices that were so popular with our constituents for much of our history. Today, we preach an ecological approach to gardening that views gardens as habitat and food for wildlife as well as sources of beauty. By considering the needs of all living things in our gardens, not just our own preferences, our gardens can support a huge diversity of life.

In 2023, the CGC hosted 33 programs covering the cultivation of native plants and the management of invasive species. This included three in-depth series teaching homeowners how to plan and maintain projects over time.

Looking Ahead

In 2024, we’re excited to look for a new Treeforestation site and offer more education opportunities around native and invasive plants. The Urban Restoration Coalition will run its first pilot program, which will take place in Bond Hill. Cincinnati Conservation Stewards participants will begin to take on more leadership roles in their parks. We’re looking forward to seeing how this area of our programming will grow and evolve!