Beach Bucket Brigade Tree Planting

  • Location
    Selden, New York
  • Status
    Complete
  • Age Level
    Any Age

The Problem

Long Island has become overdeveloped and as a result a great deal of habitat has been lost. In addition, we have many invasive species that are out-competing our native plants. We hope to spread awareness and saplings in order to help restore Long Island's natural habitats. Please see edits as a result of the Covid pandemic which has resulted in the necessity of physically distancing and therefore we have not been able to organize and host the large public clean-ups like we did last year. We had hoped to combine the tree events with these clean-ups.

Our Plan

Last year, we had over 300 volunteers helping us clean Long Island's beaches. We were also able to incorporate environmental education into our events. We are certain that our volunteers would love to "branch" out and help us plant trees to further protect our planet. EDIT- As a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic , we've had to put our face to face project on hold while we all physically distance in order to help reduce the spread of this horrific virus. We hope everyone is as well as can be hoped for during this very difficult time and we cannot wait to reschedule our tree planting/beach clean-up event. In the meantime, we'll continue to provide motivational information, nature based activities, and environmental education remotely through our Facebook page. Additional Edit as of 6/1/20- We (Cayla and Iris) were recently appointed to the Board of Directors of of our local Audubon chapter and we've been meeting remotely with them. They will be helping too with the native planting (quite possibly at a preserve where many of the Audubon walks take place) when it is safe to do so.

Themes Addressed

  • term icon
    Activism
  • term icon
    Air Pollution
  • term icon
    Habitat Destruction
  • term icon
    Wildlife

The Benefit

  • term icon
    People
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    Animals
  • term icon
    Environment

Here is how the project went:

Despite the social distancing required by the Covid pandemic these past several months, we've come up with other ways to work on our project. As newly appointed Board Members for our local Audubon chapter, we've been working on developing a community outreach program to help people make their yards wildlife-friendly. A large part of this effort involve native tree/plant species. Residential and business owners will have their yards assessed and we'll consult with them regarding plantings, eliminating pesticides, having a water source for birds and other wildlife, and providing a native habitat that offers shelter and food for the wildlife, and more.

Through this project I/we learned:

Through this project, we learned to reach out to experts and work collaboratively with them as we researched and organized our plan. We also learned about persistence, patience, and revisions in order to carry out what we hope to accomplish.

What I/we might change:

We hope to involve even more people in person next time around (as opposed to working with collaborators remotely), but with social distancing, it just wasn't possible over the summer.

My/our favorite part of this project was:

Knowing how far reaching the plan can go is one of our favorite aspects of the project. We hope to reach more and more people with the program we've developed to plant natives and attract wildlife to safe habitats for all to value and embrace.

Some tips, tricks or fun facts about the project:

When faced with bumps in the road, look for alternatives. Don't give up! If you believe in something, you will find a way to accomplish it.

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