Building Healthy Cities

Building Healthy Cities - St. Louis

Treesilience launching in St. Louis City © Kristy Stoyer/TNC

Meramec River from Castlewood State Park © Kristy Stoyer/TNC

The Nature Conservancy’s St. Louis Cities Program works alongside our local communities to grow equitable, nature-based solutions that aim to improve the health, well-being and quality of life for both people and nature in the St. Louis region.

There is no singular issue facing the social, ecological and economic health of St. Louis. These issues are diverse, complex and interconnected. Yet, we believe there is power in building cross-sector partnerships and re-imagining ways to integrate nature back into the built environment to help solve some of our region’s most pressing environmental challenges. We aim to support the visions and amplify the leadership of local communities to collaboratively co-create thoughtful conservation solutions. Leveling the Planting Field with Treesilience The benefits of urban trees are well documented. According to the USDA Forest Service, “urban forests help to filter air and water, control storm water, conserve energy, and provide animal habitat and shade.” They also provide benefits for climate by mitigating carbon dioxide emissions. To realize these benefits, it isn’t enough to just plant trees – it is also necessary to maintain the trees after they are planted to ensure that they survive and thrive. Failure to plan for trees’ long-term survival can lead to the rapid death of newly planted trees. It’s also incredibly important to maintain large, long-lived mature trees currently providing optimal benefits while new trees grow large enough to do the same.

Dying trees threaten people and property, and they are a barrier to new tree planting and community appreciation of trees. However, removals and pruning can be prohibitively expensive.

Treesilience is a national initiative to address the barriers to healthy canopy through free tree removals/replacements, mature tree maintenance and the improvement of planting conditions. The program focuses on areas where canopy is either threatened or already lost and partners with local communities that stand to gain the most from more resilient urban forests. In St. Louis, our Treesilience partners include Forest ReLeaf of Missouri, Beyond Housing, Davey Tree Expert Company and the City of St. Louis Forestry Division. The program launched in December 2021, in the Pine Lawn neighborhood of North St. Louis County. Since then, the program has expanded to St. Louis City. Updates from 2023:

Tree removals and plantings have continued on private property of interested homeowners in communities with the most need in St. Louis County. Additionally, once the program expanded to St. Louis City in the fall of 2022, we helped remove 100+ Emerald Ash Borer- infested or susceptible ash trees, and replaced them with twice as many new trees. Along with tree removals and plantings on private property in St. Louis County and public property in St. Louis City, the program has also hosted multiple workshops and trainings to Create jobs for community residents and career pathways for young emerging professionals.

Treesilience launched in St. Louis in 2021 © Kristy Stoyer/TNC

Oasis Urban Farm at Jubilee Community Church What was once a half-acre of vacant land behind Jubilee Community Church in North St. Louis now sits a hub of local, organic food production, community collaboration and native habitat. The project, Jubilee Oasis Farm, was established in 2018 and is led by Jubilee Community Church and its volunteers. A 150,000-gallon cistern, funded through the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District’s Project Clear Program, captures rainfall from the church’s rubber roof to irrigate the urban farm and orchard, and keeps rainwater out of the city’s combined sewer system—reducing overflow into the Mississippi River. In partnership with St. Louis businesses, Custom Foodscaping and Good Life Growing, The Nature Conservancy funded the farm’s design, installation, soil, tools, plants and trees. In its first few years the farm has produced, blackberries, bush cherries, tree cherries, pawpaws, jujubes, serviceberries, figs and more. Pastor Andy Krumsieg says they are excited to be able to grow whatever foods and plants they want each year and is just as excited to see the partnerships grow as well. Jubilee Oasis Farm is a demonstration that can be replicated in neighborhoods throughout St. Louis or around the state. It shows what’s possible when there is collaboration across different sectors, across different areas of expertise – when all partners are able to be at the table. The Nature Conservancy has been a collaborator and funding partner of this project from the start. We felt it was important to support this project and the community-driven transformation it could inspire. Updates from 2023: Leadership at Jubilee Community Church summarized 2023 as an average growing year for the project. While they were faced with some challenges, they also had some great successes to report. The need for volunteers to help maintain the garden is always there, but this year the farmer who helps maintain a portion of the property was away on National Guard duty and the group felt the void. Plans to help build the volunteer program for 2024 are underway. On a positive note, they were able to grow and sell hundreds of beets, figs and jujubes to City Greens Market in The Grove. The produce was superb, and the beets were described as “big and sweet”. The market has already confirmed they would like to continue the partnership this coming growing season. It also proved to be a good season for the garden’s blackberries and bush cherries. The 10 pawpaw trees are maturing as well and are almost over 6’ tall now. They will soon be producing fruit that the group will sell and share with their community. Beyond the food the garden is producing, they are also providing food and habitat for wildlife and pollinators. The farm was designed with a natural fence berm of wildflowers that surrounds the property. This past year the wildflowers were able to really mature and should be even better next year. The group is hoping this habitat will make it possible to incorporate a beehive and start honey production in the future. Learn more about TNC’s partnership with Oasis Urban Farm. Listen to Growing an Oasis in North St. Louis. An episode of It’s in Our Nature.

Photos top to bottom: Underground cistern © Jubilee Community Church; Blackberries © Doyle Murphy /TNC; Volunteers in the garden © Doyle Murphy /TNC

This blacktop playground at Froebel elementary is the pilot for the Green Schoolyard Initiative. © Kristy Stoyer/TNC Green Schoolyards

All too often, our students lack access to safe outdoor spaces where they can dream, explore and play. Green spaces play a key role in the development of sustainable, vibrant and livable communities, providing positive social, economic and environmental outcomes. Access to nature can also provide numerous health benefits, including lower stress levels, relief of ADHD-related symptoms and lower prevalence of asthma. In 2020, TNC partnered with the Saint Louis Public School District, the Missouri Department of Conservation, Dutchtown South Community Corporation, the Metropolitan Sewer District and other community stakeholders to launch a green schoolyard program. The first school in the program is Froebel Literacy Academy, located in the Gravois Park neighborhood in St. Louis. There, we’re helping convert asphalt and concrete surfaces into welcoming outdoor spaces that connect youth to nature while also absorbing and filtering rainwater.

Updates from 2023: As we approach groundbreaking in the Spring of 2024, the final pieces of this project are coming together. You can see the rendering of the submitted plans in the photo. This reimagined schoolyard will provide ample green space for the students to enjoy, while increasing much needed vegetation and habitat for wildlife and reducing the pressure on the already overstressed stormwater system. Additionally, plans for how we measure this project’s success were developed. Along with the conservation benefits that we’ll measure (increased birds, pollinators, decreased stormwater runoff), the school district has also created a scorecard to measure the academic, social and psychological well-being that this project will bring to their students.

Concept drawing of plans for Froebel elementary’s green schoolyard.

Similar to our other work taking place across the state, this project will serve as a demonstration. We will openly share our lessons learned and the outcomes from our tracked metrics. Our hope is that this project can inspire other schools to reimagine their spaces and introduce all or some aspects of this project on their own properties. TNC’s goal is to help with 10 green schoolyard conversions by 2030.

Peace Park rendering © Arbolope Studio

The Peace Park Project

As the only neighborhood in St. Louis to not have an official city park, the effort to redevelop and repurpose unoccupied land in the College Hill community began. Peace Park - located next to the Grand Ave Water Tower - was founded and named by the late Otis Woodard and had been used as a safe community gathering space for more than 20 years. The Woodard family also used to maintain a "Share Shed" on the property, providing food, clothes, and more to anyone in need. In spring 2017, a team of College Hill neighbors, along with over 20 partner organizations including The Nature Conservancy began collaborating to acquire and redevelop 14 vacant lots for what would become the revisioned Peace Park. Along with interest from the community, the redevelopment was guided by the recommendations from For the Sake of All, which is a study led by Washington University in St. Louis and St. Louis University scholars about the health and well-being of African Americans in St. Louis and why it matters for everyone.

With help from design students from Harvard University, the community held visioning sessions to make discuss the needs of the community and a plan for the park’s best use. The new park design will bring to life the neighborhood’s vision of a green and healthy gathering space, complete with an entrance pavilion, recreation area, raingardens, native trees and plants, pollinator habitat and new streetlights and sidewalks. Peace Park aims to inspire community engagement and neighborhood pride and reflect the peaceful intent of the park's creation. The Nature Conservancy has been proud to be a funding partner for Peace Park, thanks to your support of this effort. Updates from 2023: Construction of phase one of Peace Park has begun. Grading and earthwork has been underway along with installations of benches, trash and recycling bins, bike racks and exercise equipment. Additional projects included in phase one include the installation of water lines for drinking fountains and garden spigots, removal of utility poles from the alley that are no longer being used and installation of a bamboo pavilion. As we look to 2024, construction of a rain garden will begin and community planning and design for newly acquired properties and repurposing of a building will also be underway.

Learn more at nature.org/mocities

nature.org/mocities

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