Help plant trees in East Lake Park!
This is Phase III of the restoration project at East Lake Park with the Nature Conservancy of Alabama. Other project partners include: City of Birmingham Parks and Recreation, Cawaco RC&D Council, Jefferson County Urban Forestry Group, Alabama Soil & Water Conservation, and Alabama Forestry Commission.
80% to 90% of trees in East Lake Park are green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica). Because of the Emerald Ash Borer Blight, all of these trees will likely be dead in five to ten years’ time.
But how?
The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) is an Asian beetle that has become the single most destructive forest insect to ever invade the United States. These tiny, bright green creatures use ash trees to reproduce, and as a result, pose a grave threat to green ash populations. Females lay their eggs beneath flaps of bark or in crevices. When the larvae hatch, they burrow or “bore” their way inward and feed for weeks. There, they create “galleries” which disrupt the tree’s ability to transport moisture and nutrients up and down the trunk causing the entire tree to fall prey to this invasive species.
Join us on Saturday, November 16 as we plant 75 native trees at East Lake Park. Not only does planting native trees help maintain biodiversity, it also aides in fighting climate change. Through the natural process of photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutant particulates, then store the carbon and emit pure oxygen.
