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Plant Talk

Inside The New York Botanical Garden

Mitsubishi Volunteers Spiff Up Wetland Trail

Posted in People on May 11 2010, by Plant Talk

Mavia Brown is Manager of Corporate Relations at The New York Botanical Garden.

Mitsubishi International Corporation employees celebrated Earth Day last month by volunteering at The New York Botanical Garden’s Mitsubishi Wild Wetland Trail. Mitsubishi Chairman Koichi Komatsu, who is on the Board of the Botanical Garden, even donned waders and ventured into the wetland to help with the cleanup (see photo at right).

“Mitsubishi International Corporation greatly values its longstanding partnership with The New York Botanical Garden,” said Mr. Komatsu. “The Wetland Trail is an important resource for educating local schoolchildren about the environment, and we were glad to offer this contribution of our time for its upkeep.”

Working alongside Garden staff, the volunteers (including Sara Stroman and Joseph Stein in photo at left) rolled up their sleeves and worked hard at a variety of tasks throughout the day, including removing invasive plants that threaten the habitat and replacing them with native trees.

The Wetland Trail and its five acres of wetland plants teach Garden visitors about the importance and ecology of wetlands. A walk along the Wetland Trail is the first experience many school children have at the Garden each year. The Trail’s multitude of plants and animals—such as the turtles often seen sunning on a submerged rock—sparks curiosity about the environment and nature.

“The gardeners and I thoroughly enjoyed working with this group,” said Brad Roeller, Manager for Outdoor Gardens. “We accomplished a great deal, from cleaning debris from the wetland to removing invasive exotic plant species and planting indigenous species as part of the overall restoration of this important ecosystem.”

The volunteers also had a wonderful time. Pictured are: front L-R, Megan Mainardy, Debra Bentulan-Droz, Joseph Reganato, Seiichi Tsurumi; back L-R, Marian Roach, Tracy Austin, Ed Droz, Marilyn Ambrose, Joseph Stein, Bernadette O’Carolan.