parks in cities, especially larger parks which still have remaining populations of native plants, are important sanctuaries for wildlife, alongside being important spaces where people can interact with, learn about, and help restore, native habitats. the location and accessibility of them being in cities is crucial.
when landlordism forces people into homelessness, they often shelter in parks. this is not only harmful to the people experiencing homelessness, but it also has detrimental impacts on the plant populations. living without housing, & the associated city services like trash collection and plumbing, produces a lot of pollution and litter. plants get trampled, and plant restoration work areas become inaccessible
(then horrible people with no fucking empathy call the cops on them and they get shuffled off to another park, solving exactly zero of these issues)
this post is very much "local girl once again realizes social issues intersect and interact with each other in intricate ways" but just, damn this stuff sucks. fuck commodified housing.
ps: if you are in seattle, please please vote yes on the socialized housing thing on or before feb 14 - see: https://cohost.org/iliana/post/931433-hey-seattle-it-s-tim