Trees and Rebirth: Resilience, Ritual and Symbol in Community‐based Urban Reforestation Recovery Efforts in Post‐Katrina New Orleans

American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting: Philadelphia, PA USA Dec 2009 THE SOCIAL LIFE OF TREES: COMMUNITY RESILIENCE, COLLECTIVE ACTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR Photo by David Kozlowski

The Social Life of Trees: Community Resilience, Collective Action, and Environmental Behavior (Reviewed by Anthropology and Environment Section) Chair: Keith G. Tidball 8:00‐ 8:05 Introductions 8:05‐ 8:30 Rodolfo Tello 8:30‐ 8:45 discussion 8:45‐ 9:10 Keith G. Tidball 9:10‐ 9:25 discussion 9:25‐ 9:45 General discussion, concluding remarks

Rival, Laura. 1998. The Social Life of Trees: Anthropological Perspectives on Tree Symbolism. Berg Publishers: Oxford.

Trees as Social Objects in Anthropology “From its beginnings , anthropology has concerned itself as much with the ways in which natural processes are conceptualized and the natural world classified, as with the ways in which human societies interact with their natural environments and use natural resources.” Laura Rival‐ The Social Life of Trees

Trees and Rebirth: Resilience, Ritual and Symbol in Community‐ based Urban Reforestation Recovery Efforts in Post‐Katrina New Orleans Keith G. Tidball Cornell University Department of Natural Resources American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting: Philadelphia, PA USA Dec 2009 Session: THE SOCIAL LIFE OF TREES: COMMUNITY RESILIENCE, COLLECTIVE ACTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR “Scrap House” art installation by Sally Heller. Convention Center, NOLA. Photo: Arts Council of New Orleans

Abstract The relationship between trees and rituals and symbols is well described in anthropology, from classics like Turner’s milk tree in The Forest of Symbols to more recent explorations by Rival, Brosse, and others in The Social Life of Trees. Trees often appear in life cycle rituals or are used as kinship models, and are frequently seen deployed as images of continuity and reproduction as contrasted to images of change and destruction. Current research in fields of horticultural therapy, natural resources management, city and regional planning, and social‐ecological system resilience also acknowledge both biophysical and cultural aspects to trees in urban contexts. Historically trees have held special symbolic significance to residents of New Orleans, contributing to identity and sense of place. This paper includes observations of how in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, trees as symbols have been observed to take on additional and more explicit meanings related to determination to recover from the disaster and demonstrate community resilience. Further, the paper describes the author’s observation of a kind of ritualization of the act of planting trees, which may result in deepening individual and community commitment to demonstrating and enhancing New Orleans’s resilience.

Tree Symbolism in Anthropology “…Trees are used symbolically to make concrete and material the abstract notion of life [and are] … ideal supports for such symbolic purpose precisely because their status as living organisms is ambiguous.” Laura Rival‐ The Social Life of Trees

“GLOBAL HYPOTHESIS” In urban post‐disaster and post‐conflict contexts, community –based natural resources management, such as “greening” or “urban community forestry,” a.) confers resilience across multiple scales before a catastrophic event, and b.) demonstrates resilience and reactivates recovery feedbacks and virtuous cycles after a catastrophic event. CASE SPECIFIC HYPOTHESES 1. Trees shaped resilience before and following disaster in New Orleans. 2. The active engagement of citizens with trees played/plays a crucial, yet often unrecognized, role across multiple scales in recovery and resilience in Post‐Katrina New Orleans.

Resilience is… • Explanations for the source and role of change in adaptive systems, particularly the kinds of change that are transforming. • Focused on social‐ecological systems ‐ linked systems of people and nature. • Found at multiple scales, from the scale of a farm or village, through communities, regions, and nations to the globe. Resilience ‐ the ability to absorb disturbances, to be changed and then to re‐organize and still have the same identity. It includes the ability to learn from the disturbance. Walker, B., C. S. Holling, S. R. Carpenter, and A. Kinzig. 2004. Resilience, adaptability and transformability in social–ecological systems. Ecology and Society 9(2): 5. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol9/iss2/art5

Methods

Trees Shaped Resilience before and after Katrina Before After • Ecosystem service provision • Actionable restoration target – cooling • Symbol of regeneration, – storm water mgmt rebirth, resilience – air quality • Source of memory and – aesthetic & recreational memorialization values • Sense of place • Basis for emergence of a Community of Practice – Well‐being – Social capital • Catalyst for re‐initiation of – Links to SES resilience virtuous cycles in social‐ ecological system

Actionable Restoration Target Parkway Partners "ReLeaf New Orleans" Post‐Katrina Trees Planted, by Site Type ( +6k through Mar 2009) Street to Sidewalk 22% Schoolyards and Parks 37% Neutral Ground Trees 7% Home Landscapes (purchased) 10% Native Saplings (give‐aways) 24% “I have taken trees and so many other things for granted before the storm; I guess you don’t appreciate what you have until it is gone. Planting trees now will give future generations an environment they can appreciate and makes me feel like a part of something way bigger than myself (Parkway Partners “Tree Trooper” volunteer, May 19, 2009).”

Symbol of Re‐birth

On Tennessee Street, only trees remained after the storm. Residents now look to the trees as a symbol of their neighborhood’s endurance, and their street bustles with new construction. In fact, Tennessee offers a veritable textbook example of construction methodology. American Apartment Owners Association Newsletter http://www.american‐apartment‐owners‐ association.org/blog/2009/02/02/three‐years‐after‐ katrina‐brad‐pitt‐still‐rallies‐in‐new‐orleans/ http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi‐new‐orleans‐0525_r_lmvmay25,0,4086594,full.story

Trees Shaped Resilience before and after Katrina Before After • Ecosystem service provision Actionable restoration target – cooling Symbol of regeneration, – storm water mgmt rebirth, resilience – air quality • Source of memory and – aesthetic & recreational memorialization values • Sense of place • Basis for emergence of a Community of Practice – Well‐being – Social capital • Catalyst for re‐initiation of – Links to SES resilience virtuous cycles in social‐ ecological system

Source of Memory & Memorialization The 2002 "Restore the Oaks" art installation featured 30 local artists, each creating an original mural on the outer freeway columns to memorialize the live oak trees that once stood on either side of Claiborne Avenue. I am going to go further back (than Katrina)…We lost something…we had these big majestic oaks that city planning and everyone else saw fit to uproot. Along with those oaks we had inherited businesses. So that’s the legacy that’s lost. So, these trees (we are planting) might be a reminder of what we lost, so that we don’t ever forget it and don’t let that happen to us again, as well as kind of light a fire under us to ensure that we won’t have to worry about a legacy being lost (due to Katrina) (Treme community member and tree planter, January 19 2009).

Community of Practice A community of practice defines itself along three dimensions. What it is about – its joint enterprise as understood and continually renegotiated by its members. How it functions ‐ mutual engagement that bind members together into a social entity. What capability it has produced – the shared repertoire of communal resources that members have developed over time. Communities of practice can be seen as self‐ organizing systems and have many of the benefits and characteristics of associational life such as the generation of what Robert Putnam and others have discussed as social capital. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Wenger, E. (1998). "Communities of Practice: Learning as a Social System." Systems Thinker , June. Smith, M. K. (2003, 2009) 'Communities of practice', The Encyclopedia of Informal Education, www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_practice.htm. Putnam, Robert D. (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Trees Shaped Resilience before and after Katrina Before After • Ecosystem service provision Actionable restoration target – cooling Symbol of regeneration, – storm water mgmt rebirth, resilience – air quality Source of memory and – aesthetic & recreational memorialization values • Sense of place Basis for emergence of a Community of Practice – Well‐being – Social capital • Catalyst for re‐initiation of – Links to SES resilience virtuous cycles in social‐ ecological system

Virtuous v Vicious Cycles

Memorial tree examples are familiar… Scythe Tree, Waterloo, NY Survivor tree Nagasaki From a postcard Photo by: Meghan Deutscher

Memorial tree examples are familiar… The Oklahoma City bombing “Survivor Tree” Image from http://www.panoramio.com/photo/14637493

Memorial tree examples are familiar… The New York City 9/11 “Survivor Tree” 2001 Spring 2009 Michael Browne/Parks Department David W. Dunlap/The New York Times

Memorial tree examples are familiar… Saint Paul’s Chapel, NYC

Tree memorials are “Living Memorials… Because of the overwhelming desire to honor and memorialize the tragic losses that occurred on September 11, 2001 (9‐11) the United States Congress asked the USDA Forest Service to create the Living Memorials Project (LMP). See USDA Forest Service Living Memorials Project www.livingmemorialsproject.net This initiative invokes the resonating power of trees to bring people together and create lasting, living memorials to the victims of terrorism, their families, communities, and the nation.

Living Memorials connect people "This tree, a gift from the People of Oklahoma City, is the offspring of the Survivor Tree which remained standing in the wake of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building on April 19, 1995. It is planted here among the trees that survived the September 11, 2001 attacks upon the World Trade Center to symbolize our common bond, resiliency and renewal. May it forever represent hope and strength to endure. World Trade Center Survivors‘ Network, September 10, 2006“

In conclusion

Thank you CFERP and NOLA Partners Thanks also to my Cornell colleagues: Marianne Krasny, Mark Bain, Max Pfeffer, and Richard Stedman

Tree Troopers 2009

Population by race/ethnicity (2000‐2007) Source: Greater New Orleans Community Data Center (www.gnocdc.org) analysis of US Census Bureau data from Census 2000 and American Community Survey 2007

For More… www.resilientgreen.org

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Trees and Rebirth: Resilience, Ritual and Symbol in Community‐based Urban Reforestation Recovery Efforts in Post‐Katrina New Orleans

by Keith Tidball on Dec 07, 2009

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Trees and Rebirth: Resilience, Ritual and Symbol in Community‐based Urban Reforestation Recovery Efforts in Post‐Katrina New Orleans — Presentation Transcript