VILLAGE OF FOREST PARK AWARDED LEVEL I ACCREDITATION
BY ARBNET ACCREDITATION PROGRAM
FOREST PARK, ILLINOIS July 10, 2023 – The Village of Forest Park has been awarded a Level I Accreditation by The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and The Morton Arboretum for achieving particular standards of professional practices deemed important for arboreta and botanic gardens. The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta at various levels of development, capacity, and professionalism. The Village of Forest Park is also now recognized as an accredited arboretum in the Morton Register of Arboreta, a database of the world’s arboreta and gardens dedicated to woody plants.
The Village of Forest Park was incorporated on April 17, 1907. It is a Village in Cook County, Illinois with a population of 14,339 residents. The Forest Park Municipal Arboretum consists of 1,536 acres of land that incorporate 71 different species of trees that range from 48% Maple trees to .03% Yew trees. The goal for the Village of Forest Park is to preserve it’s current Arboretum and to continue diversifying it in the years to come.
Being recognized as a member of ArbNet is a great honor and is just one of many ways Forest Park is moving forward in preserving and embracing its arboretum.
The Village of Forest Park is a near-west suburb to the City of Chicago. Forest Park has been well known for having the statistic of a 30:1 ratio of dead to alive people due to the presence of several cemeteries within its municipal boundaries. Other claims to fame for the Village were a popular amusement park in the early 1900s, a woman’s professional softball/baseball team in the 1950s, an elephant burial ground that was due to a circus catching fire while traveling through town, the annual No-Gloves 16” Softball Tournament and the home to the Haymarket Martyrs’ Monument. The Village of Forest Park has that small community feel with a thriving downtown area full of shops and eating establishments. It is also minutes away from Downtown Chicago, allowing one to travel by car or via two different “L” trains to the city center. Having a beautiful and diverse arboretum shows the community the Village cares about nature and the environment, but also shows that they promote health and well-being.
About ArbNet
ArbNet is an interactive, collaborative, international community of arboreta. ArbNet facilitates the sharing of knowledge, experience, and other resources to help arboreta meet its institutional goals and works to raise professional standards through the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program. The accreditation program, sponsored and coordinated by The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois in cooperation with American Public Gardens Association and Botanic Gardens Conservation International, is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta based on a set of professional standards. The program offers four levels of accreditation, recognizing arboreta of various degrees of development, capacity, and professionalism. Standards include planning, governance, public access, programming and tree science, planting, and conservation. More information is available at www.arbnet.org.
###
