Forest Park Forever has been proud to collaborate with the Missouri Botanical Garden's Biodiverse City project, a community initiative to promote, protect and plan for biodiversity throughout the greater St. Louis region, for their 2016 Honeysuckle Sweep for a Healthy Planet.

On Wednesday, March 9, we welcomed 10 volunteers to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Forest to help our team remove bush honeysuckle. Together, we removed 457 honeysuckle plants and covered nearly 27,000 square feet! Removing this invasive species allows for more native plants to grow and thrive and improves the overall ecosystem of the forest. Curious to learn more about honeysuckle and the benefits of getting rid of it? Check out this handy pamphlet from the Missouri Botanical Garden.

In advance of our honeysuckle sweep, Forest Park Forever Nature Reserve Technician Theo Smith joined Jean Ponzi on her KDHX podcast Earthworms to talk about the importance of removing invasive bush honeysuckle. Click here to listen to the interview!