Easthampton, Mass.—The new Massachusetts Urban Conservancy (MUC, pronounced ”muck”) has launched with $30,000 in private seed funding and is now launching its first public fundraising campaign to raise capital to protect and rehabilitate a parcel of donated land in an Environmental Justice neighborhood in Randolph, Mass. MUC is seeking to raise nearly $10,000 to transform the land – an overgrown, unused parcel – into an environmentally healthy, pollinator-friendly, educational green space. The fundraiser, on GoFundMe, will begin on Tuesday, Aug. 26.
The Randolph parcel is a 0.14-acre piece of overgrown woodland, untended for many years and rife with invasive plants, as well as felled tree limbs, discarded grass clippings, rotted leaves and large rocks. It is also host to a few native trees, which would remain. MUC plans to remove invasive plants and protect the land from any development. Eventually, the conservancy plans to plant more native plants and trees, create pollinator habitats, and offer the land as a nature laboratory for nearby schools to study a range of science topics.
“Healthy green spaces are too much a rarity in cities and some towns in our state,” said MUC president Eric Weld. “Abundant research points out how important trees and nature are to residents’ wellbeing, not only for their psychological benefits, which are substantial, but for better air quality, cooler temperatures, and downstream effects like stronger economies and academic performance. At MUC, we want to create a network of healthy green spaces like this Randolph plot in urban areas all across the state.”
Funding raised in the campaign will be used for purchase of tools and equipment for removing invasive plants, as well as insurance, closing costs, and eventually buying and planting pollinator-friendly plants and trees on the land.
The land, located among houses on Millhouse Avenue and surrounding streets, was pledged by the Sudnovsky Family Trust, which has owned the parcel for several decades. The land’s assessed value is approximately $11,000. A further 10 empty, wooded housing lots in the Indian Orchard section of Springfield, Mass., have also been pledged.
MUC Mission: More Biodiversity Awareness
MUC is a nonprofit organization, incorporated in 2024, dedicated to building biodiversity awareness and pollinator habitats in urban communities.
The conservancy aims to build public awareness in urban areas of the importance of healthy biodiversity by protecting and restoring much-needed green and wild spaces right in the neighborhoods where people live and work. In particular, the conservancy focuses on Environmental Justice communities that lack sufficient green space and the many benefits to residents that accompany exposure to healthy nature. Beyond EJ communities, reductions in biodiversity affect everyone by compromising humans’ access to healthy food, potable water, protection from disease, and raw materials for clothing, shelter and medicine, as well as other effects.
MUC’s mission is to reverse the current trend of biodiversity loss. It aspires to restore biodiversity in cities and towns through small, low-cost projects such as the Randolph land rehabilitation.
MUC is led and was founded by Eric Weld, president, of Easthampton, a longtime nature and adventure writer; and Doug Quattrochi, treasurer, of Worcester, who also serves as executive director of MassLandlords, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to better rental housing for all.
Public Invited to Informational Webcasts
MUC will host a series of online conversations (via Zoom) about biodiversity topics with various experts. These conversations will be open to the public, who will have opportunities to ask questions. Register to attend the sessions here. (Attendees will not appear on screen.)
The first conversation took place on Aug. 26 with MUC founders Doug Quattrochi and Eric Weld. Also view an interview by Eric Weld with Don Sanders, donor of the Randolph property. Subsequent guests include: Nate Fournier, owner and operator of Reimagined Roots, an organic landscaping company based in West Boylston; Tom Chase and Tripti Thomas-Travers, directors of Village and Wilderness, a nonprofit forum for biodiversity organizations; and Uli Lorimer, director of horticulture at Native Plant Trust, and author of the influential book The Northeast Native Plant Primer: 235 Plants for an Earth-Friendly Garden.
MUC, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a registered charity incorporated in Massachusetts. Seed funding is being provided by MassLandlords, Inc. and the Sudnovsky 2019 Trust.
For more information contact: President Eric Weld, eweld@muc.bio, 413-265-3739.