Salve University campus recognized with international arboretum designation

NEWPORT – Salve Regina University’s tree-filled oceanfront campus has been recognized as an accredited arboretum by the Morton Arboretum’s ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program.

The university, in a press release issued Wednesday, said the 80-acre campus has 1,200 trees of 100 different species, and has been given The Level II accreditation, which acknowledges the university for its high standards of professional practices deemed important for arboreta and botanic gardens.

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As a result, the university is now recognized as an accredited arboretum in the Morton Register of Arboreta, a database of the world’s arboreta and gardens dedicated to woody plants.

“Thanks to this official designation as an accredited arboretum, thousands of new visitors from around the world will be able to appreciate the incredible beauty of these magnificent living treasures,” Salve Regina President Sister Jane Gerety said in a statement. “Since the 1980s, Salve Regina has led an ongoing effort to protect, preserve and increase its assortment of rare and unique trees for the benefit of future generations.”

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Salve Regina said that a large percentage of its campus arboretum is made up of very mature, exotic specimen trees planted during the “back to nature” movement of the late 19th century by the original Newport estate owners.

The university’s Historic Tree and Landscape Program, launched four years ago in partnership with F.A. Bartlett Tree Experts, includes a documentation, monitoring and maintenance plan to preserve, protect and replenish campus trees.
Campus preservation efforts are part of the university’s strategic plan.

“We value this land surrounding our campus, and we feel a strong sense of responsibility to preserve it for future generations of students, members of the community and visitors to Newport,” Salve Regina Chancellor Sister M. Therese Antone said. “We want to preserve these natural resources out of respect for the fact that those trees were here long before Salve Regina received its charter from the state of Rhode Island in 1934. We are also more than aware that Newport’s unique social and literary history, like its present topography, is rooted to the wide variety of trees that make their home here.”

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