Chicago's Wild Mile Turns Waterway into Floating Eco-Park
A polluted part of the Chicago River is being cleaned and turned into a home for wildlife and a center of community by the world's first floating eco-park.
The Wild Mile is a series of floating gardens in what used to be an industrial area on the North Branch Canal of the Chicago River.
The project is led by a local organization called Urban Rivers that wants to bring nature back to city rivers.
The idea is to build floating gardens that are filled with native plants and linked by wooden walkways, creating a home for wildlife and a place of recreation and education for local people.
The Wild Mile gardens recreate the natural wetland system that might have been in this area before the city was built. The roots of the native plants grow directly into the water, creating a home for young fish and other river creatures, and also filtering pollution from the water — helping to keep the river clean.
The project began with a 139-square-meter garden in 2016. By 2024 this had been increased to nearly 1,100 square meters, with more gardens planned. During this time 105 different species of birds have been seen at the Wild Mile!
The Wild Mile is now used for a lot of different community events, which include walking tours, kayak tours, science workshops and discussions, music and dance events, yoga, art, and fishing!
Students from schools across Chicago can take part in workshops and activities at the Wild Mile to learn about the natural life in the river. And volunteers can help by taking part in a river trash cleanup — by kayak!
Urban Rivers has now started introducing floating gardens to other parts of the Chicago River. And having succeeded in Chicago, the organization believes that similar floating eco-parks could be introduced in other city rivers across the world!
