Engaging New York City Volunteer Stewards Through Shifting Forest Management Goals

The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation (NYC Parks) manages 7,300-acres of natural area forests by hands-on work of professional staff and volunteer stewards. Through NYC Parks’ Stewardship program, trained staff engage over 8,000 volunteers annually, many of them working in natural area forests removing invasive plants, planting, and formalizing trails throughout the city. In this case study, explore the evolution of Parks’ community stewardship through a highly publicized tree planting campaign (Million Trees NYC), the campaign’s conclusion and its newest approach to forest management.

In a nutshell, this resource offers:

• A description of how New York City's volunteer stewardship program is structured and prioritizes its work in urban forested natural areas. 
• Insight into how one large, heavily publicized tree-planting campaign (Million Trees NYC) capitalized on public interest and transformed into a long-term program to advance forest management goals.

How to use this resource:

• As an example for structuring a volunteer stewardship program in your city.
• As a source of ideas for enhancing volunteer engagement in your city, such as mini-grants and longer engagement opportunities.
• In combination with the Forest Management Framework for New York City, as an approach for site selection that will encourage community stewardship.

Author: Nichole Henderson-Roy

Date published: 2020

Point of contact: Nichole Henderson-Roy, Senior Stewardship Manager, New York City Parks & Recreation Department, Nichole.Henderson@parks.nyc.gov 

Citation: Henderson-Roy, N.; Greenfeld, J.; and Larson, M. 2020. Engaging New York City Volunteer Stewards Through Shifting Forest Management Goals. Cities and the Environment (CATE): Vol. 13: Iss. 1, Article 27.

Resource is available online here.