Saving the Next Tree: The Georgia Hemlock Project, Community Action and Environmental Literacy

The article focuses on the Georgia hemlock project, a community action which aims to save and protect exotic plants and animal species in the ecosystem. It offers information on the hemlock tree, which is a key species in riparian areas and is considered as an Appalachian tree that is threatened by hemlock woolly adelgid which causes forest devastation. It mentions the Atlanta Audubon Society, which together with the local government units, lead the morning bird walk, one of the annual activities at the HemlockFest which help save hemlocks by monitoring areas where woolly adelgid had been released. Furthermore, Douglas Tallamy states that if building an ecosystem with diversity of animal species, one should create first a healthy diversity of native plants rather than exotic ones