The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is on its way to having its first mini forest.
Students from the Urban Community School helped plant more than 800 trees Thursday in an area at the zoo the size of a tennis court. The densely packed mini-forest includes native shrubs and trees like dogwoods, maples and pawpaws.
In the small area, the trees will have to compete for sunlight and can grow as much as 10 times faster as a result, said Christopher Kuhar, the zoo's executive director.
"That means you can get a denser forest. You can sequester carbon more quickly and more of it. You can create a cooler environment," he said. "All those benefits of trees, air filtration and water absorption — all that is really maximized by planting this way."
The mini forest is located adjacent to the Fulton Road Bridge and a nearby railroad track. Prior to planting, the site was a blacktop that was remediated and filled in with compost ahead of the tree planting.
As the trees grow, the team will work with researchers at Baldwin Wallace University to study how much carbon is sequestered at the site, Kuhar said.
"These trees will grow anywhere from five to 10 times faster than they would have planted normally," he said. "Mature trees, sequester the most carbon, right? So the quicker we can get them to that mature state, the more impactful they're going to be."
Rooted in Trees, a nonprofit organization promoting tree canopy brought the idea to the zoo and Cleveland's Urban Community School last October.
Student participation was essential to help support the upcoming generation of environmental advocates, said Paul Abbey, the nonprofit's president and founder.
"Rooted in Trees is all about education, and we know if you get a student early third, fourth and fifth grade, they're going to love nature and be a tree hugger ... the rest of their life," he said. "The school found in the classes who wanted to really participate, and they had 18 raise [their] hand right away."
Stewardship is a priority for students, Urban Community School Environmental Educator Ellie Reagan said, and participating in this planting gives them an opportunity to engage.
"They just really wanted to do something," Reagan said. "Rather than, you know, reading about something or watching something. They're getting their hands dirty, and that's what really counts as far as I'm concerned as an educator."
Reagan said she hopes the mini forest will remind students that there are actions they can take to protect the environment.
