Rutgers Tree Planting Festival
The Rutgers Tree Planting Festival is a student-led university-wide event that, at its core, seeks to plant 3,000 trees in the footprint of an abandoned roadway removed last year by Rutgers IP&O. This will be the first Miyawaki Forest (aka Tiny Forest) on the Rutgers University campus, joining only a handful in New Jersey.
While it is important to get the trees in the ground, our goal, developed in collaboration with the Rutgers Urban Forestry Program, is to build community while giving students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community members first-hand experience in tree planting. The festival incorporates forestry outreach, a collaborative art project by Scarlet Arts RX, live music, and food.
While the environmental and ecological benefits of creating a forest are obvious, the social benefits are underexplored, and this festival explores how to foster a culture of stewardship in a fun and interactive way.