Drawing strength from diversity - Defining Community in Our Cities

American Forests, Wntr, 1998 by Sandra Hill

Community must be rooted in the integration of people, ecosystems, the economy, and the social and political entities that impact where people live. The important thing to consider is how individuals play a role int heir community - their perceived responsibility as members of a geographic place. The definition of community is best considered by beginning with people, their natural surroundings, and the relationship between the two.

Environmental issues, especially urban forestry, must tie into urban residents' primary needs: health care, economics, family, and basic survival. What we breathe and eat, the water we drink, impacts all of us all the time. Making the connection between the health of the environment and our short- and long-term quality of life is very important.

Urban forestry - community tree planting - can be a carrot to teach about the importance of our forest, rivers, oceans, and air. People need to understand their interconnectedness. As urban citizens come to understand these issues and their importance in their daily lives, they will become more active in trying to save and care for forests in farther-away places.

Many minority groups have strong cultural connections to the land; many migrated from the South where they worked on farms. That is still part of their heritage - their grandmothers, aunts, grandfathers still remember even if they don't. We need to rekindle that sese of working the land and being part of a forested landscape.

Creating experiences that stimulate that linkage shows why we cannot allow further pollution of our rivers and water. When individuals recognize their responsibility to maintain and care for trees in their community, they begin to understand their responsibility for the whole environment.

One of the challenges facing urban forestry is the tension between the national environmental community and inner-city urban forestry activists. In Washington, DC, for example, national environmental groups are very concerned about spotted owls, clearcutting, and wood products but have little interest or participation in local issues. More than likely, the staff are white middle-class people who grew up next to a forest, river, or ocean and focus only on that narrow aspect of the environment. National environmental groups could use their skills to lobby in support of funding for city tree divisions and other forestry activities in their communities, which would be a step toward partnering. This would be a good use of their skills and resources.

The environmental community must work to integrate social and environmental issues. Environmentalists could use their expertise in social activism to integrate social and environmental issues; the links between them are critical. But to make those links we need to understand the needs and concerns of inner-city people. This means listening to what is important to them. So often the environmental community expects urban people to come into their "space"; instead we must work together to create a shared space with room for the different values and priorities that affect all communities.

It's not enough to work with the traditional groups, the well-organized ones with fax machines and e-mail. We must reach out across race and class lines to the churches, the schools, the informal community networks. Working with local leaders can provide access to these communities. We should strive to work and respect people's values wherever they live.

Rural and urban people have to start understanding what is common between us. We will both benefit from protecting and improving the quality of the forest, air, and water. It all comes down to investing resources back into our communities - and from there into our environment.