PARENT SESSION
Symposium #32: Ecological Restoration and Environmental Justice: Empowering Communities.
Organized by: LM Jablonski and KM Rodriguez
Thursday, August 8. 1:00 PM to 3:45 PM. Maricopa Meeting Room, TCC.
The North City sustainable communities project: linking research, restoration, and community involvement.
NILON, CHARLES*,1, 1 University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO
ABSTRACT- Access by all people to open spaces and the resources associated with them is an important component of environmental justice. The North City Sustainable Communities Project is a community-based project that uses ecological research, restoration of brownfield sites, and grass roots participation as tools for the revitalization of six inner city neighborhoods in St. Louis, Missouri. As wildlife ecologists studying how birds use open spaces in North City, my students and I focus on identifying the sites and habitats used by more than 60 species. We work with residents of the North City neighborhoods to identify sites that are important for both birds and people. We also work with Grace Hill Settlement House, a community-based organization, on plans for linking conservation and restoration with the economic development of North City. In this paper I will describe how the ecological information we provide is used to address the environmental justice aspects of community development and ecological restoration.
KEY WORDS: environmental justice, urban, conservation, birds