The City's Wildest Boro is the Bronx

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The White tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) - One of 1,471,160 current Bronx residents
In March 2018 I attended class at the New York Botanical Gardens to get a better grip on the natural environment of the Bronx. This might sound peculiar as the Bronx is best known for burning tenements, overcrowded neighborhoods, poverty, the polluted Cross Bronx Expressway and the music of Do-Wop and Rap. 
But the Bronx also contains the largest total parkland acreage in the City of New York, some of it untouched since colonial times.  Pelham Bay Park alone is three times the size of Manhattan’s Central Park and contains nearly 2,772 acres of river, upland forest and salt marsh.

The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Situated where 5 climate zones meet, the diversity of this one preserve is worth a closer look.  But there is more.  The Botanical Gardens, the Bronx Zoo, Van Cortland Park and countless green-ways and shoreline parkways bring the total of Bronx natural preserves to nearly 7,000 acres or roughly 25% of the total borough landmass. In an otherwise overcrowded city, this figure is staggering.

Tree Swallow Tree (Tachycineta bicolor)

 The Bronx is currently one of New York’s faster growing boroughs with a population near historic highs. Although there are always people with the vision to appreciate and protect the natural environment, the amazing story of Bronx natural preservation is yet to be told.  Access to nature, clean air and sunlight is a human right often denied to city folk. That any meaningful access to nature
still remains is due to the dedicated naturalists, scientists and social activists who fought and still fight to acquire, preserve and nurture what remains of the natural landscape in this borough at the center of the universe.

Goldenrod (Solidago)
These pages dedicated to all those who find meaning in the natural world. Go and find some nature near you!

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