Hope College was awarded a Level 2 accreditation by The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and The Morton Arboretum, for achieving particular standards of professional practices deemed important for arboreta and botanic gardens. The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta at various levels of development, capacity and professionalism.
Sharing this level 2 accreditation status with Hope is the City of Holland. Both are now recognized as accredited arboretums in the Morton Register of Arboreta, a database of the world’s arboreta and gardens dedicated to woody plants. The accreditation is a result of collaborative work across Hope’s Grounds Team, Biology Department, Computer Science Department, Sustainability Office and the City of Holland. Together, Hope College and the City of Holland have inventoried nearly 15,000 trees across Holland, which is documented at trees.cityofholland.com.
“This accreditation recognizes the many people and departments’ time and care placed into stewarding our campus,” said Michelle Seppala Gibbs, Hope’s director of the office of sustainability. “The green spaces provide environmental benefits, and they serve as places for recreation and restoration. Since 2018, we’ve been working with many campus partners and the City of Holland to inventory the trees that make up our urban forest, so it is really exciting to receive this recognition that honors those relationships and collaboration.”
Level II accreditation is awarded to arboreta with at least 100 labeled species or taxa of trees and other woody plants in their collections, that also have a clear commitment to public education and collections management. To qualify at Level II, an arboretum must demonstrate more advanced planning and detailed documentation, and show that it has a structured approach to plant curation and public engagement. To learn more about campus trees and research visit: http://link.hope.edu/Trees.
The mission of the Hope College Arboretum, said Gibbs, is to provide a place of recreation, education and beauty. She said the arboretum serves as a living laboratory to prepare students as Christian stewards and responsible global citizens. “By cultivating a diverse urban forest, we seek to mitigate climate change, provide ecosystem services and offer a place of beauty and recreation that connects the Hope and greater Holland community with the wonder of creation,” said Gibbs. Hope has also been honored for its commitment to effective urban forest management for eight consecutive years (2018-2026), via the Tree Campus Higher Education, from the Arbor Day Foundation.
Kevin Meyering, Hope College grounds manager, believes that caring for the trees on Hope’s campus is both a responsibility and privilege. “This arboretum accreditation honors our commitment to a campus where beauty, learning and sustainability grow together to enrich the student and visitor experience. It reflects years of thoughtful planning, stewardship and investment in a landscape that preserves species diversity,” Meyering said.
About ArbNet
ArbNet is an interactive, collaborative, international community of arboreta. ArbNet
facilitates the sharing of knowledge, experience and other resources to help arboreta meet their institutional
goals and works to raise professional standards through the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation
Program. The accreditation program, sponsored and coordinated by The Morton Arboretum in Lisle,
Illinois — in cooperation with American Public Gardens Association and Botanic Gardens Conservation
International — is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta based
on a set of professional standards. The program offers four levels of accreditation, recognizing arboreta of
various degrees of development, capacity and professionalism. Standards include planning, governance,
public access, programming and tree science, planting and conservation. More information is available
at www.arbnet.org.