Connecting our Urban Wetlands
LOCATION:
Raritan River Watershed, NJ
ORGANIZATION:
New Jersey Audubon Society
GRANT AMOUNT:
$4,783.00
ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED IN PROJECT
New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation. However, its metropolitan areas are rich with many patches of wetlands. These urban wildlife habitats support a surprising array of plant and animal biodiversity, which are threatened by development, pollution, human encroachment and invasive species.
With a TogetherGreen Innovation Grant, the New Jersey Audubon Society will develop a community-based conservation initiative to involve local residents, schools, and community organizations in assessing, monitoring, and ultimately enhancing biodiversity in urban wetlands. The focus of this initiative will be the Raritan River Watershed, which encompasses 1,100 square miles of land and is the largest river basin located entirely within the State of New Jersey. It includes portions of seven counties and 100 municipalities and supports a population of approximately 1.2 million people.
Over the next year, the New Jersey Audubon Society will identify and map urban wetlands within the watershed and establish a network of community collaborators with a vision of conducting educational programs, organizing hands-on volunteer events, and maintaining ongoing monitoring of the Raritan wetlands by local residents. Collaboration with community members and local environmental groups will help restore and improve the quality of existing urban habitats that have been degraded, as well as providing a better understanding of these natural systems.
The goal is to create a working model of citizen engagement that can be effectively implemented through various watersheds in New Jersey. With the hard work of the New Jersey Audubon Society and its alliance, even born-and-bred urbanites can contribute significantly to helping the environment!