West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Inc

In partnership with grassroots community-based partners, environmental non-profit organizations, and local collegiate partners such as the Proctor Creek Stewardship Council, Green Team of English Avenue, Cascade Springs Nature Conservancy, Hunter Hills, the Mozeley Park Neighborhood Association, the Student Conservation Association, and Spelman and Morehouse Colleges, WAWA led 25 nature-based, environmental stewardship volunteer projects helping to sustain the 22-acre old growth urban forest at the OAC and other West Atlanta parks and greenspaces in the Proctor, Utoy, and Sandy Creek Watersheds. With these efforts, we cleared over 17,000 sq. ft. of nonnative species and engaged over 500 volunteers to care for the native species, food, and wildlife at the OAC. In addition to the OAC, we cleared non-native species, cleaned West Atlanta waterways, and mapped urban heat islands across West Atlanta neighborhoods through additional volunteers in over 2,170 hours of service, and contributing over $72,471 in volunteer labour to steward the City of Atlantas parks and greenspaces and to advance local climate resilience initiatives.

WAWA invested in community-led solutions to environmental challenges in urban watershed by co-facilitating the training of 10, Metropolitan Atlanta-based community leaders through the Atlanta Watershed Learning Network (AWLN) and supporting their initiation of community-based Champions projects to address watershed protection, equitable development, and environmental justice issues in their communities. WAWA also helped to grow and distributed 994 pounds of fresh produce through a community-based mutual aid effort; conducted on-site torus at the Hartnett Community Garden at the OAC and led educational programming on local food sovereignty efforts; hosted a capacity-building workshop for 40 community based organizations to learn grant-writing,environmental mapping, and coalition-building; and led place-keeping efforts through our OAC/Bush Mountain Oral History Project.

Provided land and water stewardship of publicly forested greenspaces in and waterways through water quality monitoring, trail maintenance,creek clean-up activities, and invasive removal. Delivered watershed-based environmental training programs,conducted community-engaged research on urban heat islands and heat resilience.