The Meridian Tree Commission is hoping to encourage forestry and outdoors education in future generations of Meridianites as it establishes an arboretum at Bonita Lakes watershed.

“We don’t teach people anymore about their environment. We say, ‘Oh, trees are the lungs of the planet,’ but they’re more than that,” Angela Barnard, chair of the Meridian Tree Commission said. “They’re habitat for wild animals. They provide shade, they provide beauty.”

Work on the arboretum kicked off Tuesday with Joshua Granger, a dendrologist and associate professor at Mississippi State University’s forestry department, working to identify and tag trees along the 4.5-mile gravel recreational trail around the watershed’s upper lake.

Granger said he hopes to identify around 150 species of trees along the loop and install roughly 200 tags. The tags, which are attached to the trees, bear the Latin name for the tree species and a QR code visitors can scan for more information.

“There will be lots of multiples so that people can pick it up on this side of the trail and that side of the trail,” he said.

Trees are especially important to Mississippi, Granger said, where forestry is one of the state’s leading industries. Opportunities to explore forestry and learn about the state’s wealth of natural resources are limited, he said.

“In a state like Mississippi, most of our land mass is occupied by trees,” he said. “Unfortunately, as was previously mentioned, not a lot of people really realize the diversity and the importance that our forests provide to our land, to our communities, to our water resources.”

The idea of establishing an arboretum was first brought to the commission by Meridian resident Ollie Wilkes. Wilkes said he knows of only one other arboretum in the state, the Crosby Arboretum in Picayune. With forestry playing such an important role in the state, he said, sparking young people’s interest in trees and educating the public about their environment is sorely needed.

“You know, forestry is one of the leading incomes in the state of Mississippi and creating interest in it is very important,” he said. “And this is the perfect place for it.”

Barnard said the Meridian Tree Commission was able to take the initial seed money Wilkes donated to the project and use it as the matching portion of an Urban and Community Assistance Program Grant through the Mississippi Forestry Commission. It hasn’t been a quick process, with efforts first beginning in fall 2022, but Meridian was able to get the funds and bring Wilkes’ vision for an arboretum to life.

“We applaud Mr. Ollie Wilkes for his vision in recognizing that, while many people frequent the Bonita Lakes Watershed trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding, very few of the people are aware of the trees and plants they encounter,” she said.

Barnard said she is excited for the possibilities the arboretum brings to Bonita Lakes and the city of Meridian, as well as the opportunities the hundreds of people who use Bonita each week will have to learn more about the world around them.

“I’m confident that there are people out there that have a favorite tree on this trail, but they have no idea what it is,” she said. “Now they can see a sign, scan it, scan the QR code and learn about their favorite tree.”