Environmental Stewardship Committee
How green is my Park? is a question the Central Park Conservancy’s Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) is intent on answering. The ESC embraces innovative and responsible, environmentally-friendly practices throughout the Park to ensure sustainable management of this urban oasis for current and future generations. It has three main goals for 2008:
In addition to the Great Lawn, where we started collecting plastic bottles and cans in 2007, this year you’ll find blue recycling bins around Heckscher and North Meadow Ballfields. Behind the scenes, we’re recycling everything from IT equipment to tires. Our member newsletter is printed on recycled paper. We also continue to recycle organic material — fallen leaves are composted, fallen branches are chipped into mulch, and algae skimmed off our water bodies are added to our composting operations.
To improve the efficacy of our tree care program, the Conservancy just wrapped up a comprehensive census of the Park’s trees. The tree inventory was prepared by a team of certified arborists from Davey Resource Group who used Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to record the location and specific attributes (species, size, height, and approximate age) of all trees larger than six inches in diameter. Now that the collection process is complete, the Conservancy is implementing a software application that retains the long-term history and maintenance records of individual trees. By creating these maintenance records, the Conservancy can assess the needs of each individual tree. We can also track Dutch elm disease and other tree conditions, and easily locate new planting opportunities.
We are enhancing the Park's wildlife corridors by replacing underutilized lawns and buffer zones with native trees, shrubs, perennials, and groundcover. Native species are much more adaptable to their native surrounding and natural conditions, making them easier to care for and essentially maintenance-free. The leaves, flowers, seeds, and fruit of these plants will provide shelter and food for birds, bugs, and other wildlife. This year's Christmas Bird Count revealed that Central Park is home to 61 species and 7,776 birds. This is the highest count in at least four years. |
