25th Annual Invasive Species Removal & Habitat Restoration Project Day

A group of volunteers walking towards their project site during the 25th annual Invasive Species Removal and Habitat Restoration event.

For the 25th year, volunteers came together to help Forest Park Forever restore and maintain the Park's natural areas.

On November 2, more than 110 volunteers, the Kennedy Woods Advisory Group (KWAG) and our conservancy focused on restoring 6.5 acres in John F. Kennedy Memorial Forest. We filled 4.5 trucks with wintercreeper and other vines during another successful Invasive Species Removal & Habitat Restoration project day.

A Forest Park Forever flat bed truck parked along the pathway in Kennedy Forest, its bed beginning to fill with winter creeper pulled by volunteers.

WHAT is an invasive species?

Invasive species are plant species that out-compete Missouri flora by growing at different times of the year, reproducing abundantly, blocking sunlight, or altering soil chemistry and ultimately decreasing biodiversity. The ecosystem will eventually degrade and become more vulnerable to disease and stress.

Read about why removing certain species of plants is so important to maintain the health of forests in the Park.

HOW is habitat restored?

The living world and all its systems are complex, and removing invasive species is only one component of supporting a thriving habitat.

Our conservancy has grown this annual volunteer event into a tool for managing invasive plants in the Park's natural areas. Initiated by KWAG to remove honeysuckle in Kennedy Forest. The amount of honeysuckle in Forest Park has declined over the last quarter century and the Nature Reserve now spans 194 acres.

Forest Park experts consider wintercreeper one of the sneakiest, most abundant, and negatively impactful invasive species in the Forest Park Nature Reserve today. It flowers and fruits in the air by climbing an object like a tree or honeysuckle bush. The plant's thick, waxy outer coating and knack for creeping under existing vegetation make it difficult to manage.

During the event last year, participants removed honeysuckle and other invasive woodies on this same site in Kennedy Forest. Our goal for 2024 was to cut vine-free rings around healthy trees to create an herbicide-free buffer and prevent wintercreeper from reproducing for a few years.

Images above are TWO SEPARATE AREAS in KENNEDY Forest SHOWING Before HABITAT RESTORATION and After the 25TH annual VOLUNTEER event in 2024

Continuous stress on a natural community can have long-lasting impacts, so proactive management is better than waiting until the plant has taken over. However, eliminating plants should never be considered the final step. Read a 25-year restoration success story about Kennedy Forest Savanna.

Once seed germinates and a healthy, diverse ground story exists, invasive plants are difficult to govern without harming the surrounding species. It's essential to intensively manage plants like wintercreeper, sericea lespedeza and garlic mustard in the early stages of habitat restoration. After removal, the next step to supporting a robust, resistant system is maintaining diversity by replanting with native flora.

This progressive restoration work, including the supplies and staff labor needed for volunteer events, is only possible thanks to our Forest Park Forever supporters. To keep our work going, consider becoming a member or renewing your membership today.