The East 5 Community Habitat Enhancement Project

Allow us to reintroduce Leach Botanical Garden’s restoration zone, The East 5. 

The East 5: Community Habitat Enhancement Project is designed to 

• Steward a healthy, native greenspace in pursuit of a healthy, Southeast Portland community.
• Provide access and opportunities for environmental education and public programming for underserved communities.
• Center healing, connection, and reciprocity using Indigenous practices, social-emotional wellness, and equity-based decision making. 

“The East 5 is a space for learning, healing, and reciprocity, where you can slow down and be a piece of the whole,” as described by Sara Volk, Community Science Program Manager with Johnson Creek Watershed Council. 

The project’s new name honors the East Portland Community and reflects the cardinal direction of the 5 acre restoration site in relation to the whole garden. The East 5 is a native garden and the biomes within it include grassland, savanna, riparian forest, and freshwater. 

Since 2018, community members have been restoring this site by hand without herbicides or pesticides. This native garden in outer SE Portland has functioned as an outdoor classroom and community laboratory, prioritizing engagement with underserved youth and adults, particularly Black, Brown, and Native-identifying communities. 

The restoration work is ongoing with deep gratitude to our Friday Volunteers, monthly and visiting volunteer groups, Portland youth, and our dedicated partner organizations: African Youth & Community Organization, The Blueprint Foundation, David Douglas High School, Johnson Creek Watershed Council, and Wisdom of the Elders. We also thank the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services and Portland Parks & Recreation for their support of the garden. 

Christa Shier, an Environmental Educator with the City of Portland working with students in the East 5 since conception, describes her experience: 

“There were periods when I visited the East 5 and saw only a muddy tangle of invasive plants. It was hard to imagine the Himalayan blackberry ever giving way. But over years of returning—through seasons, staffing changes, and all the natural ebb and flow—I found myself one day standing in the same place and realizing it felt completely different. The chaos had softened. The space was breathing in a new way: less thorny, more meandering, more full of promise.

One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned from those who steward the land is how responsive it is to care over time. Visiting the same places season after season becomes a kind of dialogue. You witness how vegetation matures, retreats, or flourishes. You see the cumulative impact of small, steady efforts.”

This June we completed a milestone project in the East 5 with the opening of our new public path. Here's a few of the project highlights from recent years:

• Adding 720 linear feet of fencing in 2024 to surround the East 5 and complete a full perimeter fence around the garden (excluding sensitive areas directly adjacent to Johnson Creek). 
• Removal of 175 linear feet of fencing in the interior of the garden to open up the East 5.
• A total of around 600 native plants were added to the space by students, volunteers, and staff in 2025 and 2026.
• Creation of a new maintenance trail that is mulched to protect trees. This path allowed us to safely bring in carts with gravel for the pathway.
• Numerous land stewardship and field trip programs hosted in collaboration with project partners. On an annual basis thousands of individuals and students were engaged.
• From April 2025 to May 2026 a total of 3,169 hours of dedicated support was provided by volunteers.

With the new installation of the East 5 public path, we welcome visitors to enjoy the whole garden– horticulture and restoration cultivated with care along the waters of Johnson Creek.