{"id":46,"date":"2020-12-07T11:56:32","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T16:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/?page_id=46"},"modified":"2020-12-16T15:18:48","modified_gmt":"2020-12-16T20:18:48","slug":"bronx-biodiversity","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/bronx-biodiversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Bronx Biodiversity"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"embedContent widescreen\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/youtube.com\/embed\/6T_5p0wboFY\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Amid the health crisis, the New York City Council did not renew funding for the Natural Conservancy Plan for Bronx park. The project is currently in the pandemic&#8217;s hands.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"text-header-xl\"><strong>Bronx Park Nature Conservancy Plan on Hold Due to the COVID-19 Budget Cuts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Adam Santovac<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was the summer of 2019 when Helen Forgione, a senior ecologist from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/naturalareasnyc.org\/what-we-do\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the Natural Areas Conservancy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was studying the forest condition in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bronxzoo.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the Bronx Zoo<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOh no, wait, the elephants are out! We can\u2019t go there! We can\u2019t go there today,\u201d Forgione\u2019s coworker warned her at the last second while driving a golf cart. They were trying to decide where they should go next to complete a nature assessment, when they realized that it was a day when the elephants were let out of their enclosures to roam.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-139 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Helen-Forgione-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Helen-Forgione-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Helen-Forgione-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Helen-Forgione-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Helen-Forgione-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Helen-Forgione.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In her 30-year career, this was the first time Forgione had the opportunity to assess the forested spots that separate the zoo exhibits from each other and create a buffer between the people and the animals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWow! Nobody really\u00a0 walked in this forested spot for maybe 25 years! You can really feel in the soil, it was not compacted,\u201d said Forgione. \u201cYou know New York City, the elephants out, I thought that was perfect. How many times do I get to experience that?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This was how Forgione and her team started a nature conservancy project throughout the 718 acres of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nycgovparks.org\/parks\/bronx-park\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bronx Park<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, perhaps best known as the home of the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States. Ecologists were doing a so-called assessment process in the park for five months last year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-136 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Bronx-park-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Bronx-park-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Bronx-park-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Bronx-park-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Bronx-park-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Bronx-park.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis process gives information about the cost of doing restoration and of doing kind of long-term maintenance once the health of the forests is improved,\u201d said Forgione.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the assessment process, the Natural Areas Conservancy and its partner organizations found that the greatest threats to Bronx Park\u2019s forests are from invasive species: herbaceous plants, vines, and shrubs. Invasive insect pests, notably the Emerald Ash Borer, have a strong influence on future forest composition in the park, too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe laid out a five-year management plan to really attack these threats,\u201d said Forgione.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-140 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Nature-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Nature-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Nature-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Nature-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Nature-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Nature.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>To achieve management priorities over the next five years, the non-profits and the New York City Parks Department would need to commit almost $2.9 million in funding to reduce the ecological threat and increase the health of forests in Bronx Park.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NYC Council approved funding and the restoration started this year. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic exploded.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAll of that great kind of momentum, kind of came to a halt,\u201d said Forgione.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Due to \u201cthe unprecedented economic challenges brought on by COVID-19,\u201d the City Council did not renew funding for the project for the current fiscal year which began July 1<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">st<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Officially, the name of the project is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/naturalareasnyc.org\/forests\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the Forest Management Framework for New York City<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u201cIt is a strategy for how over 25 years we can all work together to increase the health of that forest land in New York City,\u201d said Forgione.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The strategy covers 7,300 acres of forest in the city. Ten percent of those plants are in Bronx Park. The conservancy engagement program for the park aims to serve as the foundation for the city\u2019s natural areas management for the next two and a half decades.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-141 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pandemic-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pandemic-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pandemic-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pandemic-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pandemic-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pandemic.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>Even though scientists warn that the restoration of ecosystems is linked to the restoration of human health, the city decided it could not afford to fund the project in full.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Jake M. Robinson, an ecologist and PhD researcher at University of Sheffield noted, \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/biodiversity-loss-could-be-making-us-sick-heres-why-143627\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">microbial diversity is a large part of the biodiversity that is being lost.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d He wrote that these microbes (viruses, among others) are essential for maintaining healthy ecosystems. \u201cBecause humans are a part of these ecosystems, our health also suffers when they vanish, or when barriers reduce our exposure to them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this sense, the Bronx Park conservancy plan can contribute to the biodiversity by preserving native plants. Ones of those plants is the American Beech: the whole ecosystem relies on it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt produces beech nuts which are relished by wildlife, the wild turkeys that are here in the Bronx, of course all of our squirrels and chipmunks, and all the little mice go for it as well,\u201d said Forgione. \u201cDeer which are not abundant in Bronx Park but do roam through the Bronx quite a bit will also eat those beach nuts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-147 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Zoo-nature-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Deer in a zoo\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Zoo-nature-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Zoo-nature-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Zoo-nature-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Zoo-nature-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Zoo-nature.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bronx Park is also the home of invasive species which cause harm to the forest by <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cutting off their water supply<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. A key focus of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wcs.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the Bronx Zoo Wildlife Conservation Society<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the organization in charge of the project, is weed removal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSo, for example a plant like the Sumac and the Norway Maple, which are invasive, we use here for the benefit of the animals because it\u2019s part of their diet to give them enrichment,\u201d said Jeremy Smith, a gardener at the Bronx zoo. \u201cThe lemurs can eat sumac, our gorillas can eat sweet gum, and our tree kangaroo eats porcelain berry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But not only invasive plants are a potential threat to NYC parks. Since the pandemic began, Bronx Park is being overrun by the other invasive species \u2013 human beings. The NYC Parks press office said that they do not track park attendance, so exact data about visitors&#8217; raises are not publicly available.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhat we ended up seeing was the Bronx Park not only got used, but it also got abused,\u201d said Michelle Luebke, the director of environmental stewardship for <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/bronxriver.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the Bronx River Alliance<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u201cThey left the garbage on the ground, we saw a lot of PPE in the park.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Luebke runs the ecology team of the Bronx River Alliance, the organization which works together with the National Areas Conservancy and the zoo on a program for Bronx Park. As its name suggests, the focus of the organization is on the Bronx River, New York City&#8217;s last freshwater river.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe cool thing about it is, it\u2019s entirely accessible by public transit,\u201d said Luebke.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-144 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Trash-river-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Trash-river-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Trash-river-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Trash-river-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Trash-river-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Trash-river.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The river is accessible to trash, too. Pollution in terms of sewage and fecal bacteria are not the only health issues of the river.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn normal conditions, we take people out and we have them get in the water and count and remove trash. So that we can assess what is coming into the river from where and that we can stop it at its sources,\u201d sa<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">id Luebke.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The river itself relies on the Forest Management Framework plan. The reason is simple: the Bronx Park forest can absorb pollutants from the storm water before it gets to the Bronx River.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The New York City Council still does not know when exactly the funding for the project will be renewed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;We will\u00a0revisit\u00a0funding for this and other programs when the city&#8217;s finances\u00a0improve,&#8221; said a City Council spokesperson.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Until then, the project mostly relies on volunteers. By planting trees once a week they are trying to kick-start the ecosystem and help restore the nature of Bronx Park.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-146 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Volunteers--1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Volunteers--1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Volunteers--300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Volunteers--768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Volunteers--1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Volunteers-.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amid the health crisis, the New York City Council did not renew funding for the Natural Conservancy Plan for Bronx park. The project is currently in the pandemic&#8217;s hands. Bronx [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":326,"href":"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46\/revisions\/326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.newsdoc.org\/naturenyc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}