Alewife Brook Reservation
Alewife Brook Reservation and District advocacy and restoration work became a core part of Green Cambridge’s mission after acquiring the Friends of Alewife Reservation (FAR) in 2019. Through our programming, we protect and restore this wild area and the surrounding District.
Land Acknowledgement
We recognize that the Alewife Reservation stands on the ancestral and unceded lands of the Massachusett, Wampanoag, Narragansett, and Pawtucket peoples, who have stewarded this land for generations. We acknowledge the devastating and ongoing legacy of colonialism, which violently dispossessed Indigenous peoples of their territories, cultures, and ways of life. We honor and respect the enduring presence and deep wisdom of the native communities who are still here today, and believe that Traditional Ecological Knowledge and indigenous worldviews are essential in re-establishing ecosystems and ways of life that are bound to this land.
Our Vision
Our stewardship of the Alewife Brook Reservation is rooted in the understanding that the Great Swamp that existed for millennia no longer exists in its original form. A primary goal is to restore the ecology of the reservation through dedicated vegetative restoration efforts.
Restoring the Alewife Brook Reservation with native plantings aids in re-establishing the ecosystems native to this region, supporting a diverse array of life including birds, mammals, insects and fish, for which the Alewife Brook, and by extension the Reservation, is named. Over 150 years of filling, channeling, and industrial development and use have entirely altered the original landscape and hydrological function.
Despite these significant changes, we hope to aid in the recovery of that lost natural heritage and historical ecological function. Our vision is to cultivate a more resilient Alewife Brook Reservation, capable of thriving amidst future environmental changes and serving as a lasting natural asset for generations to come.
We are committed to increasing access to the Reservation for the public, enabling communities to connect with the land and its natural beauty within an urban environment. We believe that fostering this connection is crucial for human health and community fabric, as well as the continued health of the ecosystem.
Through robust community involvement and educational initiatives, we aim to deepen understanding and appreciation for the reservation's ecological significance and the importance of its long-term health. As the Alewife District continues to be developed for residential and commercial use, we'll work together to champion the creation of publicly accessible green and blue spaces designed to meet environmental justice and resilience standards, ensuring they benefit everyone fairly and can withstand climate challenges.
Our Strategy
Our work is strategically guided by the Community Health Action Plan's SMART Goals developed in collaboration with the National Park Service, ensuring a targeted approach to creating a healthier, more resilient environment.
This Alewife District Community Health Action Plan builds off decades of advocacy to create a strategic path forward, outlining what steps Green Cambridge and others can take to restore the ecological health of these 136 acres, make it more climate resilient, and ensure that it is an accessible resource.
Our commitment is divided into three interconnected pillars of impact:
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Through the creation of a comprehensive Vegetation Management Plan in partnership with Parterre Ecological, we are implementing informed ecological management strategies that support the long term health and climate resiliency of the Alewife Brook Reservation and District.
By hosting volunteer plant mapping and removal events, we give community members the opportunity to do hands-on restoration work, helping to mitigate the impacts of invasive species that harm native ecosystems and biodiversity. Our stewardship of this important wetland also helps improve water quality and reduce flooding.
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A healthy environment requires a healthy, informed community.
In the Alewife, we foster community stewardship. We connect with community members through accessible events across the year that highlight the history and importance of the Alewife, and how individuals can have agency in their natural environment.
We actively participate in community coalitions, advocating for responsible land use, protection and conservation, mitigation for heat-island effect and air pollution, and for the elimination of combined sewer overflow discharges in the Alewife Brook. We prioritize amplifying community voices and needs to address local environmental justice issues.
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Equitable access to the Reservation is critical. We are dedicated to providing accessible, interactive learning experiences that invite community members from all walks of life to engage with the Reservation. We support accessible transportation, increased wayfinding, and street design that centers safety.
Prototyped during the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program, we are building Restore Corps, an upcoming paid internship that will train and educate Cambridge teens in urban ecological restoration including invasive plant removal and native plant re-establishment.
Our goal is to empower future environmental leaders through education and action.
