If you've noticed the addition of three small roped-off areas near the Buena Vista Park Children's Playground earlier this month, you're not alone.

The areas are the focus of a new study sponsored by the city's Department of the Environment and initiated by two local nonprofits, the Urban Permaculture Institute and Matter of Trust, said Friends of Buena Vista Park representative Isabel Wade.

Wade said the Friends had suggested the use of park land as a test site for the city's program, which is a two-year study to measure the carbon sequestration impact of adding compost to the city's sandy soil to promote plant growth.

The goal of the study, said Wade, is to determine the feasibility of reproducing and expanding other, similar urban programs across the state and on city land.

"Sites like Buena Vista Park," Wade said, "with very sandy soil and erosion problems, are obvious locations that would benefit from the addition of compost and additional planting while also helping to shrink the City’s carbon footprint."

This isn't the first time the city has considered the sequestration impact of its parks and forests, but similar conversations in the past—like that surrounding the Mt. Sutro forest management proposal—have focused largely on erosion control and windbreaks rather than the benefits of carbon sinks.

Thanks to tipster Isabel Wade.

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