New Jersey Conservation Foundation works with local partners and community members across the state to green local neighborhoods and infrastructure and help bring nature to all. Green spaces support community health and wellbeing by improving air quality, cooling neighborhoods, and offering people a space to enjoy outdoor recreation.
Historically, many of New Jersey’s urban communities were located along key rivers and waterways, and today are increasingly vulnerable to flooding due to climate change. They also suffer from the “heat island effect,” and temperatures continue to rise, further threatening public health. Our future must ensure clean water, a healthy environment, and access to nature, parks, trails and gardens for every community.
Green & Healthy Cities
As part of a multi-year Green & Healthy Cities initiative, NJ Conservation is working to increase state investments in cities to address needs identified by citizens from urban and underserved communities. The GHC initiative engages urban community members and partners in advocating for green infrastructure investments in cities across New Jersey.
The Green and Healthy Cities Work Group convened urban environmental leaders in Trenton, Camden and Newark to build a stronger voice for urban greening and conservation equity in our cities. The ultimate goal is to create a state-level Green & Healthy Cities Task Force to organize and support existing urban programs in disparate agencies and create a more comprehensive and effective approach that will result in more urban parks, green spaces and sustainable communities.
Trenton
New Jersey Conservation is working to build lasting green infrastructure in Trenton, expand access to nature, and improve community health by providing new shade, safer and more welcoming public spaces, stronger partnerships, and a growing network of residents, organizations, and public agencies working together for a greener capital city.
Recent Projects:
- Trees for Trenton - Trees for Trenton is a community effort to address environmental justice and make Trenton a more beautiful and livable city.
- Blacksmith Triangle - transformation of a former gas station into a forested park that serves as a gateway to George Page Park and the Assunpink Greenway.
- Trenton Walks! - a popular community walking program that features guided, themed treks across the city that highlight local history, nature, and neighborhood revitalization. Since its 2024 launch, the initiative has logged over 70 guided walks and thousands of person-miles.
- Harlan Joseph Peace Park - The proposed park will honor Harlan Bruce Joseph, of Trenton, a community activist and seminary student who was shot and killed by a police officer during the 1968 riots.
Camden
NJ Conservation Foundation has been actively engaged in programming in Camden since the 1980s, building a deep and long-lasting connection to the community and its environmental needs. Over the decades, NJ Conservation has developed and implemented a variety of conservation and outdoor recreation initiatives to improve the environmental health and quality of life for residents in Camden. These programs have included community-driven urban greening projects, environmental education, and outdoor recreational opportunities focused on making nature more accessible to Camden residents.
Recent Projects:
- Sadlers’ Marina
- Gateway Park – managed by NJ Conservation, the 25-acre linear park runs along the Cooper River, a Delaware River tributary, providing the community with access to nature and outdoor recreation like walking, bicycling, jogging, bird watching and fishing. Gateway Park is part of the Circuit Trails, a network of pedestrian and bicycle trails that will eventually encompass 750 miles in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Plans for Gateway Park include the construction of a boat ramp for launching kayaks and canoes.
- Discover the Delaware
Jersey City
NJ Conservation and its partners are working to protect, renovate and activate the Bergen Arches in Jersey City. The Bergen Arches is an approximately one-mile stretch of abandoned railway owned by NJ Transit, created by the Erie Railroad Company in the early 1900s by blasting and removing rock, resulting in a 40-80 foot deep, man-made canyon through the heart of Jersey City. Since 1957, when passenger rail service through the Bergen Arches ended, nature has begun to take over the site, and today there is an urban forest growing in “the cut”.
The long-range vision is to establish the Arches as the backbone to an 11-mile regional trail network serving residents of Jersey City and the surrounding area. By connecting the Bergen Arches to the Essex-Hudson Greenway to the west, and the future Harsimus Embankment trail to the east, users will eventually be able to bike or walk from Montclair to the Jersey City waterfront.
NJ Conservation has also partnered with local groups like the Feminist Bird Club of Jersey City and Jersey City Birds to offer engagement programming throughout Hudson County and beyond. The largest of these events, Liberty State Park's Big Day of Birding, has been held for four consecutive years and has been an incredible community-building event as well as a driver of advocacy and awareness for ongoing issues at the park.
