Every 3rd Friday, guest speaker(s)/moderator(s) will present a topic for consideration and exploration. All subjects and approaches to conversation are invited, from traditional lectures, talks, slide shows to experiential learning involving the audience in active participation.
Join Wisty Rorabacher Friday, October 17, 6:00 p.m. at The LAVA Center to learn about the Floodplain Forest Restoration Project, what it does to control four infamous invasives that crowd out natives at the Greenfield Swimming Area, and what you, too, can do to help restore balance in our natural world by reclaiming areas overrun by invasives. Rorabacher and her colleagues are making a significant dent in the profusion of Japanese knotweed, bittersweet, multiflora rose, and garlic mustard that has ranged out of control at the Swimming Area, threatening natives and the pollinators that rely on them. She will share the process that she and her colleagues have gone through and the successes they’ve had using long term management strategies without adding chemicals or other poisons to the environment.
As a result of the efforts of Rorabacher and her colleagues, wildflowers, including some rare ones, are coming back and the area is regaining its health and balance.
This project in one small and specific area of our city is a model for maintaining balance in our wider environment. Come to learn how a once out-of-control landscape dominated by invasives now serves as an example of understanding how those issues of balance and maintaining our native plants are crucial to what grows and thrives around our own homes and neighborhoods.
Theater for Ideas was begun with support from Mass Humanities, the Markham-Nathan Fund, and Greening Greenfield. Monthly on the third Friday, there is a presentation to engage people in important ideas of our times.
For more information, contact Jan Maher, jan@localaccess.org.
