How a group of volunteers is fighting invasives in a Newport, RI park

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Newport's Miantonomi Park has lost nearly one-third of its trees over the last decade.

The loss of tree canopy has allowed invasive plant species to take over 80 percent of the forest understory.

Volunteers are working with the Newport Tree Conservancy to remove invasive plants and reintroduce native species.

The annual planting effort aims to add 100 native trees and shrubs to the park each year.

In the last decade, Newport’s largest forest has lost nearly a third of its trees, opening up the canopy and creating the perfect conditions for invasive plants to flourish.

As more light has penetrated to the forest floor in Miantonomi Park , Japanese knotweed , lily of the valley and bittersweet vine have crowded out slower-growing native species and taken over 8