Short Street Nature Preserve and Play Space @ Lakelands

UER announced the launch of its Healthy Habitats Project, the Lakelands Short Street Nature Preserve and Play Space, in the fall of 2021.

This Eco-Functioning Space demonstrates to hundreds of people how to combine active play in nature with ecosystem restoration and stormwater management. It also teaches residents how replicate these concepts in their own yards and community spaces. The project delivers precious ecosystem services to Gaithersburg while exposing residents to conservation principles, water quality concerns, and nature play for health.

UER and the Lakelands Community Association (LCA) worked for over a year to plan and build support for this project, which builds off the success of the Butterfly Commons at Lakelands project.

Not only have residents become more interested in ways to incorporate “Healthy Habitats” in their own yards since the Butterfly Commons was installed, but the UER-LCA team realized (through outreach efforts) that a larger project – one that allows people of varying ages to have a more immersive nature experience with different levels of interaction – helps more people directly see and experience the importance of this kind of landscaping. In addition, the project transforms a highly underutilized and unsafe area (which contains stone rip-rap and stormwater pipes) into a much safer and educational play area.

This project was made possible by generous award from the Outreach and Restoration Grant Program of the Chesapeake Bay Trust, with funding from the City of Gaithersburg. UER is grateful for the continued support of these funders.

Learn more about the project, its development, history, goals, and long-term maintenance needs here: https://www.urbanecosystemrestorations.org/programs/#research-and-education