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TreeFolks, an environment-oriented nonprofit, is partnering with East Austin performing arts theatre the Vortex and Huston-Tillotson for a tree-planting event on Feb. 28.
The event will be held at the university’s campus, where TreeFolks will lead a tree-identification walk encouraging community members to immerse themselves in Austin’s urban forest.
TreeFolks was incorporated in 1989 as an initiative to simply plant more trees. However, that initiative grew and blossomed in the Nineties when the organization gained federal funding, allowing them to hire and pay staff members. Then, they expanded their mission, centering it around community outreach.
The organization worked to restore forests through their Lost Pines Reforestation Program after the 2011 fires in Bastrop County. Through the program, they planted more than 2 million pines by 2017. Now, their Central Texas Floodplain Reforestation Program restores riparian forests for landowners in the Austin area. The organization also provides educational opportunities through TreeFolks Young Professionals and frequent volunteer programs.
TreeFolks’ upcoming event is an initiative to involve community members in tree planting, bringing a variety of people together. It places an emphasis on tree equity at the HT campus, located in an area more prone to major heat impacts, according to Austin city analysis.
“As of 2022, 74% of Austin residents live in neighborhoods where temperatures feel at least 8°F higher than the actual temperature,” Camila Restrepo, TreeFolks’ communications coordinator said. “Planting more trees at Huston-Tillotson presents an opportunity for us to support the City in its goal of achieving a 50% tree canopy cover while addressing the disparities in canopy coverage across the city.”
The event will also be a part of the Vortex’s MotherTree project, an upcoming production about our relationships with trees as climate change impacts become more prevalent. The Vortex’s website states that the show intends to “engage our imaginations as we travel through the mycorrhizal network to learn from the Trees,” using tree roots as a setting to convey their concerns with the climate crisis. The MotherTree cast will join the tree identification walk, enriching the educational experience.
Restrepo continues, “We hope that by coming together with communities through art, education, and environmental initiatives, we can help the neighborhood develop deeper and stronger roots, fostering excitement for a greener future in East Austin.”
The tree planting event will take place Friday, Feb. 28, from 11am to 1pm at Huston-Tillotson University.