Alliance Begins Fire Site Restoration

Prospect Park is home to Brooklyn’s last remaining upland forest, over 30,000 trees, and countless native species of plants and wildlife. In November 2024, we all felt how much our cherished woodlands mean to our Brooklyn community when we experienced unprecedented drought conditions and a 2-alarm fire in a core two acres of our beloved woodland Ravine. The fire damaged all three layers of forest in the area, including overstory trees, smaller midstory trees and shrubs, and herbaceous ground cover. Thanks to an outpouring of support from our community, Prospect Park Alliance has kicked off our ongoing work to restore the site of the fire.

Prospect Park Alliance’s Landscape Management team unrolling biodegradable mesh at the site of the fire.

If you’ve taken a stroll through the paved paths of the Ravine in recent weeks, you may have spotted Prospect Park Alliance’s Landscape Management team in-action, working to stabilize the area using biodegradable mesh. Stabilizing the area is the first step of a multi-year restoration project developed by the Alliance’s team of ecologists, forestry technicians and arborists in collaboration with our partners at NYC Parks. “In recent weeks, parkgoers may have seen brown mesh and tubes of compressed straw covering the steeply sloped Ravine hill. This biodegradable mesh is made from plants and helps hold the soil in place and prevent erosion, and will eventually allow us to plant here” shares Prospect Park Alliance Landscape Manager, Hannah Sassoon. “The Ravine, one of the first sites of the restoration work the Alliance began in early 1990s, is a part of the “Forever Wild” area of Prospect Park, a designation that means it has rare and important native species of plants and animals.”

“The recent fire in the core of our beloved woodland Ravine highlighted the vulnerability of our city’s treasured green spaces. As extreme weather events become more common, the role of our parks in building climate resilience is more vital than ever before,” said Prospect Park Alliance President, Morgan Monaco. “We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support that has enabled Prospect Park Alliance to begin long-term work to restore this cherished area of Brooklyn’s Backyard. Our woodlands are a destination for respite, healing and exploration, and we thank our community for supporting the Alliance’s work to ensure that these natural areas will be sustained for generations to come.”

The team is now kicking off work to seed and plant the area with the three layers of flora needed for a diverse and healthy forest: native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. These native species include Elymus hystrix (bottlebrush grass), Penstemon digitalis (foxglove beardtongue), Amelanchier canadensis (serviceberry), five different species of oak and much more. The Alliance’s work to restore this area will continue over many seasons, with dedicated care and monitoring to ensure the Ravine’s long-term health and resilience. The Alliance looks forward to volunteers joining the efforts to restore this site in the seasons to come.

Learn more about Prospect Park Alliance’s work sustaining our environment.