The National Wildlife Federation and the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance kick off America’s National Volunteer Week at the Urban Forest Festival on Saturday by cleaning up the Cascade Springs Nature Preserve, a 125-acre park in Atlanta, Georgia. The preserve is among the largest old forests within a city limits in the USA.
The cleanup is part of the Clean Earth Challenge, a partnership between the federation and Johnson Outdoors, a company manufacturing camping equipment, trolling motors, fishfinders, scuba gear, and watercraft, a press release from the federation said. Now in its third year, the challenge tries to advance the restoration and resilience of America’s land and water. To date, participants have removed 3.7 million pieces of trash from natural spaces.
“The community and youth that are volunteering their time to clean up the Cascades Springs Nature Preserve is a testament to the love and care the people of Atlanta have for the natural world and their city,” said Krista Newbery, head of licensing and partnerships for the National Wildlife Federation. “This cleanup embodies the purpose of the Clean Earth Challenge and sets an example of what can be achieved when we all work together.”
Anamarie Ngala-Bey, environmental education programmes manager at the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, said, “National Wildlife Federation has been a long-time partner of WAWA’s and we are excited to have them participate in our Urban Forest Festival, helping to bring wildlife awareness to the people of West Atlanta. Much of WAWA’s work emphasizes improving the quality of life for all and being a host site for the Clean Earth Challenge is a great way to align our values with NWF’s.”
“The Clean Earth Challenge is about us uniting to improve our wild places and community through simple, repeatable acts of preservation,” said Myra Shockley, brand manager at Johnson Outdoors. “The West Atlanta Watershed Alliance and the city of Atlanta have set a new standard for Volunteer Week. This cleanup brings us one step closer to our goal of collecting four million pieces of trash, and another step toward a cleaner earth.”
The Cascade Springs Nature Preserve sees a large number of visitors daily, making it susceptible to a build-up of litter and trash, which affects species like salamanders, opossums, foxes, songbirds, and raptors that rely on the old growth forest ecosystem. A youth group from the National Wildlife Federation’s Earth Tomorrow programme will lead the cleanup alongside volunteers from the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance. National Wildlife Federation naturalist David Mizejewski will be in attendance with a variety of animals to engage the volunteers and educate them about the impact of pollution in the Atlanta ecosystem.
Source: PR Newswire
