Northwestern University Ecological Park & Botanic Gardens—Level IV Accreditation

Northwestern University Ecological Park & Botanic Gardens used their 2019 ArbNet/BGCI Partnership Program grant increasing their species diversity and their research capacity to upgrade their accreditation in 2021. The Philippines is a megadiverse country and a priority for species conservation. It is home to a wide array of species. However, it is frequently visited by super-typhoons, therefore, ex situ plant conservation is urgently needed as a means to protect critical flora, especially narrow endemic plant species (species with a narrow distribution or population). Their partnership programme project was aimed at documenting the flora of the Philippines, with a focus on narrow endemic species. The purpose of the ex situ collections are for future cultivation at the conservatories, provide specimens for research, education, and ecological restoration in the event of a super typhoon devastation.

Downers Grove Park District—Level I Accreditation

Established in 1946, Downers Grove Park District is home to 5,169 trees spreading over 600 acres of open space. The District’s diverse urban canopy features 92 species including a large number of maple and oak species in addition to baldcypress, serviceberry, hackberry, Kentucky coffeetree, Douglas-fir, and alder trees.

In 2019, the Downers Grove Park District received a U.S. Forest Service Grant to develop an Urban Forest Management Plan. The grant was managed by the Morton Arboretum, which provided $5,000 toward the development of the plan, which the District matched with an additional $5,000. The Plan includes a “State of the Urban Forest,” which provides data and analysis of the current canopy and outlines long- and short-term goals and recommendations for the future including how the District can:

• Prepare for, and perpetuate the future of the Urban Forest by ensuring continuity in tree care, guide future tree planting efforts
• Improve the resiliency of the tree population by increasing diversity
• Plan for the reduction of invasive species, such as buckthorn and honeysuckle in the parks

The district launched an all-new interactive Public Tree Inventory. The inventory is a catalogued and mapped GIS system that is available for public viewing through an interactive online map hosted on the District’s website. Following the tree inventory they were granted accreditation in 2019.

Forest Home Cemetery—Level II Accreditation

As a nonprofit organization, Forest Home Cemetery applied for a DNR grant that paid for the inventorying of their collection of 2,600 trees representing 102 species. The grant also paid for their first ever tree management plan. Forest Home Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin dating back to 1850. After completing this process they became the first accredited arboretum in Milwaukee, and the first cemetery accredited in Wisconsin.

Arboretum at Starin Park—Level I Accreditation

The city of Whitewater, Wisconsin, used a DNR grant to launch efforts to create the Arboretum at Starin Park and achieve ArbNet accreditation. The DNR Urban Forestry Grant reimbursed up to $25,000 of city and volunteer efforts to plant and maintain new trees and shrubs within the nearly 35-acre park Starin Park. The landmark park borders the UW–Whitewater (UWW) campus and its 7.6-acre Chopp Arboretum and the 1,873-initiated Salisbury Arboretum effort to label UW–Whitewater trees that started out as a 5.2-acre effort.