ALA is officially accredited!
Fall color in the Arboretum. Credit Autumn Voirol.
As the autumn arrives and the Ainsworth Linear Arboretum settles into its 20th year, we have big news:
Arbnet accepted the Concordia Tree Team’s application for the Ainsworth Linear Arboretum to receive accreditation as a community arboretum.
It’s official! The ALA is now a Level 1 Accredited Arboretum.
Their website for ALA is here: https://arbnet.org/morton-register/ainsworth-linear-arboretum
We are so proud of our local arboretum, and grateful to be working with the wonderful folks at Arbnet who connect us to communities and public spaces across the country.
Why is there a system for Accreditated Arboreta?
Our official shiny badge for the ALA
Read below for the background on Arbnet, a program from the Morton Arboretum.
In April 2011, The Morton Arboretum launched ArbNet and arbnet.org, an interactive community of arboreta and tree professionals designed to support the common purposes and interests of tree-focused public gardens. The Arboretum Accreditation Program was established through ArbNet at the same time to provide specific standards of professional practice and offers four levels of accreditation. In tandem, we created the Morton Register of Arboreta – a global database of arboreta and other public gardens that have a substantial focus on woody plants.
Since its inception, ArbNet has accredited over 700 arboreta, across 42 countries. In 2022, ArbNet was honored with the American Public Gardens Association Program Excellence Award. Into the next decade, ArbNet will engage its large, and growing audience, by continuing to support gardens in reaching their professional goals and milestones, sharing best practices and resources, improving urban forestry by supporting municipal tree collections, building capacity for smaller arboreta through grants and professional opportunities, establishing arboreta in biodiversity hotspots to facilitate conservation, supporting tree conservation efforts through partnership and networks, and finally, supporting scientific and horticultural research in arboretum collections of all sizes.
ArbNet's founding organization, The Morton Arboretum, is an internationally recognized tree-focused botanical garden and research center. Its 1,700 acres of beautiful tree-filled landscapes are a place of enjoyment, a vibrant hub for nature education, and a world-renowned center for scientific research that studies trees and how to sustain them. As a nonprofit organization, the Arboretum’s mission is to collect, study, display, and conserve trees and other plants from around the world to inspire learning, foster enjoyment, benefit communities, encourage action, and enhance the environment.
