Mosholu Teaching Forest

What’s a Teaching Forest?

The Mosholu Teaching Forest (MTF) is an emerging stewardship effort led by local artists, educators, and students seeking to increase awareness and access to the 20 acre northernmost urban forest of Mosholu Parkway. There are over 18 schools (pre-K to high school) within walking distance of the forest that could engage with the local ecology through education. By calling this section of public NYC parkland a “teaching forest,” we seek to remind ourselves of how place-based education and land stewardship has something to teach us all.

Recent Stewardship…

In 2022, local environmental artist Matthew López-Jensen sparked the first large-scale removal of invasive vines and decades-old trash dumps with support from the NYC Parks Department. Students from Wave Hill’s Woodland Ecology Research Mentorship (WERM) program joined in on NYC’s inaugural City of Forest Day, tackling invasive species, while Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) interns hauled over 500 pounds of litter from the inner forest. Local landscape architect Eytan Stanton published Lessons from the Mosholu Teaching Forest, a booklet exploring the forest’s history and current significance. That fall, twelve neighbors gathered for a Tree Seed Community Planting, sowing over a thousand native tree seeds and sharing a picnic beneath the canopy.

From 2024 onward, stewardship efforts grew even more. The entire freshman class at World View High School took part in a Wildflower Stomp, planting native blooms and cleaning up the trails, while local physician Sarah Garrison contributed a Natural History Portrait of the forest as part of her Urban Naturalist certification. City arborist Alfred Planco led plantings of edible and medicinal species, including dogwoods, persimmons, serviceberries, pawpaw, and witch hazel.

In the same year, the forest’s Black Tupelo tree was recognized as a Great Tree of NYC, and WERM students returned to clear storm-fallen branches. World View High School’s Photography, Environment, and Social Justice class created portraits of life in the forest, SYEP interns rescued 26 trees from invasive ivy and bittersweet, and naturalist Journei Bimwala led seasonal foraging walks to share plant knowledge with neighbors. These collaborations keep the Mosholu Teaching Forest thriving as a living classroom and accessible community space.

So far, many contributors to this vision are affiliated with the James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center. All neighbors are welcome to contribute and make this evolving effort their own!