MLK Day at the OAC

The Outdoor Activity Center (OAC) has a long term vision of restoring their 26 acre forest and grounds to a healthy, native plant community.

Working together for the past eighteen months, the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA), EcoAddendum, Park Pride, Trees Atlanta, West Atlanta Mountain Bike Association and many volunteers,  removed invasive species from the garden site and its immediate surroundings during regular and intensive volunteer workdays.  The Atlanta Botanical Garden donated twolarge truckload of organic compost to topdress this project.  EcoAddendum has developed a garden plan and native plant list for the butterfly garden site.  Although the entire OAC grounds comprise 26 acres, the first efforts are being concentrated on the eighteen by thirty five foot butterfly garden.

Planting species native to the Georgia piedmont region recreates the foundation of the local food web and ecosystem that has been lost over the past two hundred years ago due to poor land management practices.  Reintroducing these environmental building blocks creates a sustaining base that supports missing insects, butterflies, pollinators, birds and other animals.  This, in turn, creates an outdoor classroom for environmental journaling, science observation, and collaborative art projects.

These projects expose our local youth and community to native plants, the species they support, and the local ecotone and food web, things that they may not see otherwise in urban Atlanta.  Programming and related activities develop a deeper appreciation and understanding of Atlanta’s urban forest and meadow, and ultimately foster stewardship.

The West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA) and EcoAddendum have developed an environmental experiential after school program for the youth of Southwest Atlanta which is scheduled to debut March 2009.  The activities include orienteering, hiking, journaling and environmentally based art projects.  The native plant garden is an important element of this program and deepens the experiential aspect of all the planned activities.  Active documented use of the garden during the OAC’s Junior Naturalist program through journaling, drawing projects, and other related stewardship and gardening activities create a measurable outcome for this garden.