Middle School Students Spend Time at Ridgeview Conservancy
What benefits do forests bring us? And what are the threats that they face? This is what Middle School students learned about on their recent visit to the Ridgeview Conservancy, one of our wonderful ecology partners located just across the street from Princeton Montessori School.
Geoff and Katie of the Conservancy talked to the students about the importance of forests to the planet, and how only about 20% of the earth’s original forests could be called healthy now.
They discussed the ‘Furious Five’ threats to them and our students then had to find evidence of these threats in woods preserved by the Conservancy. Then the students presented their evidence to the rest of the class.
In April, we will return to the woods across the road to learn about what we can do to preserve these valuable resources.
PRESERVING FORESTS & WETLANDS
Since 2009, members of Ridgeview Conservancy have led a neighborhood effort to conserve and steward vulnerable tracts of forests and wetlands on the environmentally sensitive Princeton Ridge. In partnership with property owners, land trusts, conservation organizations, and Princeton municipality, the Conservancy has worked to secure conservation easements and to acquire properties with forest and wetland habitats under threat. Once protected, the Conservancy manages these sites for conservation and recreational use by the public. This involves removal of invasive species, restoration of native plant habitats, creation and maintenance of accessible trails, and linkage of these trails to other sections of Princeton’s Emerald Necklace.
Our proximity to this history and the link to Ridgeview Woods Preserve makes Montessori distinct as its students can be on the cutting edge of saving habitats for endangered species.
