Putting the ‘forever’ in Forest Park

by Leah Shaffer, Washington University in St. Louis
April 8, 2026

Over the past few decades, a collaboration of St. Louis regional groups have partnered to be good stewards of Forest Park, one of the largest urban parks and wildlife areas in the country. Organizations such as Forest Park Forever have restored habitat, while scientists with the Saint Louis Zoo have partnered with conservation groups and universities including WashU to monitor wildlife populations. Their efforts have paid off, as shown in recent research published in the journal Ecological Applications.

“Forest Park is unique, not just because of the size but also because of all the work these groups are doing for conservation in the park,” said Stella Uiterwaal, an ecologist now at the Smithsonian. Uiterwaal is first author of the research, which she began as a postdoctoral scholar with the Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University in St. Louis.

Forest Park experienced severe damage from a tornado that devastated the St. Louis region in May 2025. The findings reported in this study predate the storm, but study authors said that they remain confident in Forest Park’s resilience and in their finding that urban restoration programs can increase native biodiversity.

Keep reading: https://source.washu.edu/2026/04/putting-the-forever-in-forest-park/

Read the Ecological Applications paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.70207