The #depaving groups reclaiming #UrbanGreenSpace

by Jennifer Cole, Mar 21, 2026

"It took two years, but finally, in 2025, Jean Norwood’s dream of turning the parking lot at #MorningstarMissionary Baptist Church in #PortlandOR, into a play area for children and a #FoodGarden with #FruitTrees came true. Working with Norwood to bring her vision to reality was #DepavePortland. Since 2008, the Portland-based nonprofit has been digging up paved surfaces, freeing the trapped soil underneath and #regreening the newly reclaimed space.

"There are an estimated 2 billion parking places in the United States, an area comparable in size to the entire state of Vermont. That figure does not include #sidewalks, schoolyards or other paved surfaces, which, along with #CarParks, trap heat, intensifying the urban #HeatIsland effect in some cases by up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit compared with surrounding areas. '#Asphalt makes your space hotter in the summertime, and colder in the wintertime,' Norwood says.

"When asphalt is removed and the soil beneath is exposed, those dynamics begin to reverse. The ground can absorb and store #carbon, and #rainwater is able to filter into the soil rather than running off into sewers. #Trees and #gardens can be planted that provide shade and a #habitat is created for #birds, #insects and other #wildlife.

"This was Norwood’s dream for the parking lot at Morningstar. Going from concrete to fruit trees, though, takes patience. 'First,' she says, 'there was about six months of planning and submitting requests for permitting.'

"Depave guided Norwood and the church through all of it, even seeking out grants to help cover costs. When it came time to depave the parking lot, volunteers recruited by Depave used crowbars, shovels, bare hands and wheelbarrows to lift out the pavement and daylight the soil beneath. Depave also worked with Morningstar on finding contractors to build the play area and raised #GardenBeds, and on choosing the plants for each newly #regreened space. It’s a process Depave has perfected at more than 82 sites across Portland."

https://www.rewildingmag.com/the-depaving-groups-reclaiming-urban-green-space/

#SolarPunkSunday #MoreGreenCities #GreenerCities #RewildingCities #MoreParksLessParkingLots #WildlifeHabitat

Your searches on Ecosia saved this forest in Indonesia 🌳🌳🌳

With our partner, Leuser Conservation Forum, we turned a former palm oil plantation back into a thriving, diverse forest.

5 years later, it’s unrecognisable. Wildlife and native trees have returned 🦧🌳💚

You can help too. Download Ecosia and share this with a few friends. Let’s bring more forests back. https://www.ecosia.org/

#reforestation #indonesia #rewilding #palmoil #deforestation #regreening #trees

Of the many unfinished projects left behind, this is one that Sahara Sahel Foods wishes to complete. Arne Victor Garvi's dream was also to make an eco-parc with the trees that remained after the germination tests. The eco-parc is something that we are interested to expand to a major part of the property.

The below photos show the direct seeding zone in 2016, when the property had been bought, and now, in November 2025.

#ecoparc #directseeding #biodiversity #regreening

Arne Victor Garvi was a visionary and an innovator with a large number of ideas and projects. He was very busy with was his research in the direct seeding method for propagating plants. In dry environments, the nursery plants used to regreen areas had a very low survival rate due to limited root development. So Arne Victor pioneered his own methodology, by doing research on germination, collecting seeds and teaching people good sowing methods.

#directseeding #drylands #regreening

From dry to green in just two years 💚

How? Our partners Green Ethiopia used Zaï pits, small holes filled with compost that capture rain and restore soil fertility.

Now, trees are growing again.

Keep searching and planting with Ecosia 🌳

#regreening #reforestation #ecosia

'Forgotten' water harvesting system transforms 'barren wasteland' into thriving farmland

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/sustainable-half-moon-farming-technique-ex1

The YouTube Forest - every 1000 views on this video plants 4 trees!

🌲🌲🌲Boost if you love trees! 🌲🌲🌲

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5YF95r_Bew

#climateChange #globalWarming #solarpunk #deforestation #tree #trees #regreening #environment #environmentalism

Swiss initative breaks up paved surfaces for better rain absorption, flood resilience and temperature control. Should be happening everywhere.

https://youtu.be/kPrb66VbumM?si=4iw474k7KbOgdHfi

#regreening #greencity #Environment

This is what 5 years of reforestation looks like ✨

Once cleared for a palm oil monoculture, this forest is now lush and diverse again.

Together with Leuser Conservation Forum, we’re restoring the Leuser ecosystem in Indonesia — supporting natural regeneration and planting native trees with local communities.

5 years of progress, powered by the Ecosia community 💚

#trees #reforestation #regreening