Governors Island Nature

About

Gov­er­nors Island Nature fos­ters vis­i­tor engage­ment with Gov­er­nors Island’s 120 acres of nat­ur­al and built open spaces and pro­motes hor­ti­cul­ture prac­tices employed by the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island that sup­port bio­di­ver­si­ty. Through learn­ing, pub­lic pro­grams, and stew­ard­ship projects, Gov­er­nors Island Nature aims to edu­cate vis­i­tors about hor­ti­cul­ture, bio­di­ver­si­ty and the impacts of cli­mate change on our nat­ur­al sur­round­ings, while pro­mot­ing Gov­er­nors Island as a sanc­tu­ary for all beings.

The work of Gov­er­nors Island Nature and the Trust’s hor­ti­cul­ture team is led by the firm belief that any­one can devel­op mean­ing­ful con­nec­tions to the nat­ur­al world in an urban set­ting, under­stand our shared eco­log­i­cal respon­si­bil­i­ty, and help com­bat bio­di­ver­si­ty loss. Our team employs a wide range of inno­v­a­tive, exper­i­men­tal meth­ods to cul­ti­vate native habi­tats with a goal of mit­i­gat­ing the harm­ful effects of habi­tat destruc­tion and cli­mate change. With a mix of his­toric and new­er, man­made land­scapes — many of which were cre­at­ed to mit­i­gate the impacts of cli­mate change — Gov­er­nors Island pro­vides New York­ers with a unique oppor­tu­ni­ty to wit­ness and par­tic­i­pate in nature-based cli­mate solu­tions and native habi­tat restoration.

Our Natural Areas

Click here >>

Tree Map

Click here >>

Plant Watch

Click here >>

Get Involved

• Vol­un­teer with us: Join a Month­ly Ser­vice Day with the Trust’s hor­ti­cul­ture team and the Friends of Gov­er­nors Island, held the sec­ond Tues­day of each month. Click here for more info. 
• Com­mu­ni­ty sci­ence: Join the Trust’s hor­ti­cul­ture team for month­ly Nature Walks dur­ing the spring, sum­mer, and fall months to dis­cov­er Island bio­di­ver­si­ty! Click here for an event cal­en­dar. Make sure to cre­ate a free account with iNat­u­ral­ist and log your plant and wildlife obser­va­tions dur­ing your vis­it — this cre­ates use­ful data that helps track and increase bio­di­ver­si­ty around the world.

Resources for Visitors

• Self-guid­ed nature scav­enger hunt, win­ter 2023

Updates From our Team

• The Trees of Gov­er­nors Island: Effec­tive­ly Man­ag­ing an Urban Forest
• The Trees of Gov­er­nors Island: Sur­vey­ing Our Diverse Canopy

Updates From our Partners

The Trust works with a grow­ing com­mu­ni­ty of year-round and sea­son­al ten­ants and oth­er part­ner orga­ni­za­tions. See below for resources and updates from sev­er­al on-Island partners.

• NYC Audubon’s Bird­ing Guide to Gov­er­nors Island
• GrowNYC Teach­ing Gar­den resources
• 10 Ways to Save the Bees, a guide from the Bee Conservancy
• Com­post­ing on Gov­er­nors Island, a guide from Earth Mat­ter NY