Enablon and American Forests Partner for Tree Plantings in Elmwood, IL

With support from Chicago Region Trees Initiative, planting event restores elm trees, teaches community about commitment to urban canopy

(Washington, DC) – American Forests, in its continued efforts to “Reforest America” through its Community ReLeaf program, partnered with Enablon for a community tree planting at multiple locations in Elmwood, IL on Friday, May 17, 2019.

Chicago Region Trees Initiative supported this local event, which brought together some 70 volunteers for plantings at Elmwood’s East/West Brook, Centennial Park and Elmwood Elementary School. Program participants, including the Elmwood Elementary Student Council, received hands-on experience with public landscape installation and maintenance techniques, tree planting and community garden installation and care.

On hand at the event were Angel “Skip” Saviano, Village President of Elmwood Park; Katie Brda, Enablon’s Project Manager and NA Sustainability Manager; Lydia Scott, Director of Chicago Region Trees Initiative; Rose Tileston, American Forests’ Manager of Urban Forest Programs; and Sarah Schmid, American Forests’ Corporate Giving Manager.

Residents remembered when Elmwood was, as its name suggests, covered in a canopy of elm trees, and lamented the effects of Dutch elm disease, which left some areas of Elmwood Park completely barren.

“Not only are we planting new trees, but we’re also reintroducing the elm tree,” said American Forests’ President & CEO, Jad Daley. “It’s a heartfelt issue for the residents of this city, and we join with them in a commitment to bringing the elm tree back to Elmwood Park.”

The Chicago Region Trees Initiative has developed projects and programs to work toward a goal of healthier, more abundant, more diverse, and more equitably distributed urban tree canopy to provide needed benefits to all people, and wildlife, that live in the Chicago Region.

American Forests and the Chicago Region Trees Initiative, with the support of Enablon, organized this event because planting trees on streets and around parks is an effective way to mitigate urban heat, encourage recreation activity, and make areas safer, more welcoming, and more attractive for people—and for urban biodiversity that has demonstrable economic benefits to health and wellbeing.

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About American Forests

Founded in 1875, American Forests is the nation’s oldest conservation organization dedicated to protecting and restoring America’s forests, but our work today is more critical than ever because forests are a natural climate solution. Since 1990 alone, we have planted over 60 million trees in forest restoration projects in all 50 U.S. states. We have also worked in dozens of cities across America, expanding tree canopy and making our communities more sustainable, beautiful, and livable. Together, these projects recover hundreds of thousands of acres of wildlife habitat, safeguard vital watersheds, absorb millions of tons of greenhouse gases and protect some of the most stunning landscapes in America.

About Enablon

Enablon is the world’s leading provider of Sustainability, EH&S and Operational Risk Management Software. More than 1,000 global companies and 1 million users rely on Enablon solutions to manage their environmental and social performance, minimize risks and improve profitability. Enablon offers the most comprehensive platform in the industry, and is consistently recognized as a global leader and visionary.

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