Community College Forest
Metropolitan Oasis
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Trees
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Square Feet
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Native Species
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Youth Impacted
On the campus of Bronx Community College (BCC), in one of New York City's densest urban neighbourhoods, grows a new pocket forest. Planted with native species drawn from the borough's own ecology, the forest serves as a living micro-ecosystem in the heart of the Bronx: a place where over 7,000 students, staff, and local residents can reconnect with the wild nature that once shaped this landscape.
Beyond its ecological value, this pocket forest is a living classroom. BCC students gain hands-on experience with native species, and the forest itself becomes a place to understand how urban nature protects public health: filtering air pollution, absorbing rainwater, offering shade, and supporting a myriad of birds and pollinators. The hope is that this small patch of ground opens a much larger conversation, about the economic and health value of green space in urban communities, and about investing in the people who steward them. Every SUGi Pocket Forest is planted with and for its community. In the Bronx, that community will carry it forward.
Forest Maker
Ethan Bryson
Forest Partner
Forest Design
"This pocket forest offers an educational opportunity for our students - not only enabling them to gain hands-on experience maintaining native species but also providing insight into the role green space plays in a community."
– Elena Perez
Project Director, Bronx Community College
"The forest will allow BCC students and the surrounding Bronx community to witness first-hand how native plants contribute significantly to our community’s wellbeing, whether filtering air pollution, providing shade, absorbing rainwater, or supporting a myriad of local species. This direct connection to a pocket forest will underscore both the economic and health benefits of green space - and hopefully promote investment to expand green space and native plants in the community as well as elevate the need to invest in individuals in the Bronx community who maintain green spaces, strengthening community resilience."
– Elena Perez
Project Director, Bronx Community College
