Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at info@reasonstobecheerful.world and we just might feature it here. Tree-mendous There’s something a little magical in the idea of a forest within a city. But fairytale this is not. As Civil Eats reports in an article shared by RTBC Executive Editor Will Doig, Denver is now home to 26 food forests, with 600 or so fruit and nut trees and 600 berry bushes. Given how sparse the Colorado capital’s urban tree canopy is, these agroforests are a huge win for the city, providing free access to fresh food for residents while reducing the urban heat island effect, drawing down carbon and creating pollinator habitats, to name just some of the significant positives. Will says: I think of Colorado as a nature lover’s paradise, so I was kind of shocked to learn that Denver lags way behind when it comes to its urban tree canopy. One local group has been rectifying that with a network of fruit and nut trees, right in the city, that any resident is free to pick from as they walk by. Climate allies Did you know that forests with elephants in the Congo Basin store around seven percent more carbon than those without these giants? Or that birds, monkeys and many other seed-dispersing animals help tropical forests absorb four times more carbon? In this Earth.org opinion piece, shared by RTBC Contributing Editor Geetanjali Krishna, Silvia Mantilla argues that the world has long overlooked its climate allies — wild animals that help lock away carbon — and celebrates the fact that the tide is finally turning. This month, the International Union for Conservation of Nature adopted a resolution to mobilize the role of wild animals in ecosystems as a climate solution. “This resolution is a step that moves us forward,” writes Mantilla. Geetanjali says: It’s high time we recognized the crucial role that indigenous animal species play in carbon capture in the environment. Sea otters, for example, help kelp store more carbon. And, as I’m a sucker for animal trivia, I loved reading that penguin poop actually helps Antarctica stay frosty! What else we’re reading  What Disability Art Means Now — shared by Contributing Editor Michaela Haas from The New York Times Style Magazine  How EVs Can Fix the Grid and Lower Your Electric Bill — shared by Interim Editorial Director Tess Riley from Grist  Cutting Emissions, the Roundabout Way, in New Hampshire — shared by Founder David Byrne from The New York Times   The Farmers Sheltering Displaced Palestinians on Their Land — shared by Interim Editorial Director Tess Riley from Next City  Sweden’s Secret to Well-Being? Tiny Urban Gardens — shared by Founder David Byrne from The New York Times In other news… The Reasons to be Cheerful team was very sad to learn this week about the death of Melanie Winter, who dedicated much of her life to fighting for the re-naturalization of the Los Angeles River. At the start of this year, we published Michaela Haas’s story about Winter, a former Hollywood actress and Broadway dancer who fell in love with the river when she took a job with Friends of the Los Angeles River in 1996. In 2000, Winter founded her own nonprofit, The River Project, before going on to sue the city over its plan to commercially develop a former feed mill turned rail yard. And she won. Organizing a coalition of local groups that secured the land and $45 million in state funds, she was the driving force behind creating the 240-acre El Rio de Los Angeles State Park, LA River’s largest park. “I think of the river as an asset, not a storm drain,” she told Haas. The post What We’re Reading: Denver’s Flourishing Food Forests appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.