The Prospect Park Alliance launched a long-term restoration project to rehabilitate the woodland Ravine, which was damaged by a two-alarm fire in November 2024.
The fire affected two acres of the park’s core forest, impacting the overstory trees, midstory vegetation and ground cover, according to a press release.
The Alliance’s landscape management team began stabilizing the area using biodegradable mesh, an essential first step in preventing soil erosion before replanting can begin. The restoration project, developed in collaboration with NYC Parks, will take place over multiple seasons to ensure the site’s long-term health and resilience.
“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” said Hannah Sassoon, Prospect Park Alliance's landscape manager.
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 project will include replanting native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants essential for maintaining a healthy forest ecosystem. Species such as bottlebrush grass, foxglove beardtongue, serviceberry and multiple species of oak will be introduced to restore biodiversity.
“The recent fire in the core of our beloved woodland Ravine highlighted the vulnerability of our city’s treasured green spaces," said Prospect Park Alliance President Morgan Monaco. "As extreme weather events become more common, the role of our parks in building climate resilience is more vital than ever before."
