On your next visit to Teatown, you might be surprised to see what seems like a construction site near our entrance to Wildflower Island. This is because we have begun building Wildflower Woods – an innovative, new outdoor education facility and curriculum.
The idea for this new outdoor education classroom and living laboratory is to restore and return a nearly four-acre forest habitat to its natural condition. Its purpose: to teach adults and children the importance of protecting nature and ecological health, illustrating how each of us must actively participate in environmental stewardship through nature-friendly living.
GETTING READY – POSITIONING THE LANDSCAPE: Wildflower Woods will be conveniently situated near our Nature Center. Staff, volunteers and schoolchildren will help clear the forest of invasive, non-native, species like Japanese barberry, garlic mustard, and stilt grass and then restore the area by adding native wildflowers, plants, shrubs and trees. A perimeter fence will preclude overabundant deer from entering the area and damaging the ecology.
GETTING SET - PROVIDING AN ENVIRONMENTAL MODEL: Wildflower Woods, open to the public from dawn to dusk each day, will demonstrate what a healthy forest in the Hudson Hills and Highlands looked like before overabundant deer, non-native earthworms, and invasive plants became problems. Using wildflowers as one indicator of forest health, the Woods will instruct visitors about the need for biodiversity conservation and citizen participation in caring for our environmental. Throughout the Woods, public paths and signage will provide a self-guided educational experience, including ecological health concepts and basic information to allow visitors to identify the various wildflowers and interpret our local ecology.
GO! – PIONEERING A RESOURCE FOR EXPERIENCED-BASED LEARNING: Wildflower Woods will provide the perfect outdoor classroom for visiting school groups. Our educators and scientists are now developing a new curriculum that will engage students in the restoration of the Woods, simultaneously teaching key concepts of ecological health, responsible stewardship, and sustainable living. Generations of students will see the forest return to health as a result of their stewardship activities. This “natural classroom” will be one of the first of its kind in the region and will be used as a valuable community resource for decades.
We will keep you posted on its progress. If you are interested in contributing to the cost of the project please contact Anne Bishop, at abishop@teatown.org.
