Riverside City College has Earned 2023 Distinction Through the Tree Campus Higher Education Program
Riverside City College was honored with 2023 Tree Campus Higher Education recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management.
The Arbor Day Foundation is the world’s largest membership nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees. Its Tree Campus Higher Education program began in 2008 to encourage colleges and universities to plant trees on their campuses.
Trees on campus and in urban spaces can lower energy costs by providing shade cover, cleaner air and water, and green spaces for students and faculty. In addition, trees improve students' mental and cognitive health, provide an appealing aesthetic for campuses, and create shaded areas for studying and gathering.
"Trees not only play a vital role in the environment but also in our daily lives,” said Dan Lambe, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Having trees on college and university campuses is a great way to show a commitment to students and faculty’s overall wellbeing.”
The Tree Campus Higher Education program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and engaging staff and students in conservation goals. RCC achieved the distinction by meeting Tree Campus Higher Education’s five standards, including maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance, and student service-learning project. Currently, there are 411 campuses across the United States with this recognition.
The RCC Student Sustainability Collective and Sustainability Committee celebrated this achievement during the third annual Arbor Day tree planting ceremony on campus. A coast live oak, named Panthera during the ceremony in honor of the RCC mascot Bennie the Bengal tiger, was planted between the Math and Science Building and the Quad. Panthera joins Oliver (2022) and Eliza (2023) as new additions to the campus urban forest.
More information about the program is available at treecampushighered.org.
About the Arbor Day Foundation
Founded in 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation is the world’s largest membership nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees. With a focus in communities and forests of greatest need, the Foundation — alongside its more than 1 million members, supporters and valued partners — has helped to plant nearly 500 million trees in more than 50 countries. Guided by its mission to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees, the Arbor Day Foundation is committed to unlocking the power of trees to help solve critical issues facing people and the planet. Learn more about the impact of the Arbor Day Foundation at arborday.org.