April 2009
- The New Jersey Tree Foundation was awarded the US Environmental Protection
Agency's Environmental Quality Award!
Click here
to read more.
The New Jersey Tree
Foundation, in partnership with the City of Camden,
has been awarded the 2008 Award of Excellence for Community Trees
in the small city category by the Home Depot Foundation. Through
the Urban Airshed Reforestation Program in Camden, community involvement paired
with support from the City have resulted in nearly 3,000 shade trees planted
with the assistance of over 5,400 volunteers. The $75,000 in prize money was used to continue planting trees in Camden.
Mission
The New Jersey Tree Foundation is
a statewide, non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, enhancement
and development of urban and community forestry activities in New
Jersey through education, volunteerism, community
outreach, partnerships, and grants. The Tree Foundation is committed to providing
exceptional forestry programs, services and opportunities to New
Jersey’s cities and towns.
Need
All too often the value of a vibrant and diverse
community forest is ignored or overlooked. Recent
street tree assessments
and other studies have sounded the alarm that the health of our community
tree resource is declining. Trees in our cities and towns are only averaging
a life span of seven years. It is estimated that in our municipalities, one
tree is planted for every four trees removed. Nearly fifty percent of potential
tree planting locations in the state’s cities and towns remain vacant. Unfortunately,
many local governments are cutting back on their tree planting and maintenance
programs, even though the need to support the planting and care of our community
forest has never been more pressing.
Goals
The goals of the Tree Foundation are to promote the significance of community
forestry activities to a comprehensive range of participants, expand urban,
suburban and rural forestry activities, encourage volunteerism and strengthen
relationships between the private and public sector of forestry experts through
innovative programs and projects. As part of its goal to improve and support
community forestry efforts, the Foundation is reaching out to New
Jersey’s corporations to establish
partnerships between local communities and businesses. Through donated funds,
volunteer partnerships, and resources, the Tree Foundation will aid in environmental
education, tree planting and outreach projects.
Partnerships
The New Jersey Tree Foundation is part of a unique three party agreement between
New Jersey Forest Service and the New Jersey Community Forestry Council. Foundation
trustees and Council members, in conjunction with the State Forester, formed
this partnership in order to support collaborative efforts to nurture, sustain
and provide stewardship for New
Jersey community forestry activities. Additionally,
the Tree Foundation partners with a wide variety of groups and organizations
across the state for tree planting activities and educational events.
The NJ Tree Foundation and Naturity have partnered to support urban and community forestry in the Garden State!
