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, 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 Reservation is deeply 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 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 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 Land 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.
Holding volunteer invasive mapping and removal events, we give community members the opportunity to do hands-on ecological work, addressing the issue of invasive species that hinder the functions of natural biodiversity in this storm water wetland to 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, connecting with community members via accessible events throughout the year that highlight the story of the Alewife and how individuals can have agency in their natural environment.
We actively participate in community coalitions, developing processes to advocate for responsible land protection, use and conservation, mitigation for combined sewer overflow pollution, while amplifying community voices and needs to address local environmental justice issues.
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We are dedicated to equitable access, through continued efforts to create accessible programming that will address the needs of all members of the community. Piloted during the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program, we empower future environmental leaders through 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.