Friend of Tivoli Lake Preserve and Farm, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and community space for environmental education in the Arbor Hill and West Hill neighborhoods of Albany, NY.

Our Tivoli Community Farm is located inside Tivoli Lake Preserve. During the summer, we have a community farm and use a flock of animals to manage vegetation and improve soil health in Tivoli Lake Preserve.

When the flock is not at Tivoli Lake Preserve, they are housed at the Normanskill Farm.

The City of Albany technically owns the Preserve, which is open to all. We work on its behalf through a license agreement with the City of Albany.

We do not host private events but have a calendar of events during our open season. While the Preserve is open to the public, the City of Albany requires that larger events request a special permit. You would be working directly with the City of Albany to arrange these.

While we are invested in growing our community of environmental stewards, it is important to honor the Native stewards of the lands. The Native stewards* of these lands were the Mohicans (Muh-he-Kuhn), “The people of the waters that are never still,” and the Haudenosaunee (hoe-dee-no-SHOW-nee), “people who build a house.” Additionally, none of our work would have been possible without Brother Yusuf. Read more about our history.

We have three main pillars of work: conservation, education, and recreation, with activities spanning all three pillars. 

Our animals are used for vegetation management and provide a unique learning experience about the fiber cycle. Viewers can see the animal’s wool and learn how it becomes yarn and is used for clothing making the fiber-to-fashion connection. 

We also work with the food cycle accepting food scraps and turning them into compost for our gardens to grow food, which is offered to the community. Our garden and farm practices focus on regenerative land practices and learning from the plants, animals, and land. 

We aspire to connect people to nature and Tivoli! We host plant walks, bird walks, trail maintenance, and other events to bring people to the Preserve.

This is all to inspire people to become invested in the land.

Please note that we do not own the land. We offer limited events throughout the year, but we encourage visitors to use the space independently.

We have some self-guided brochures and a map and are working on bringing more self-guided signage. We are constantly working to help improve the trail system and signage. It’s not perfect, but we do our best not to let “perfect be the enemy of good” and believe it’s best to start somewhere.

If you are interested in leading a walk/activity, please email us, and let’s connect ~ tivolivolunteers@gmail.com

From 2017-2019, our invasive species grazing project was funded through a DEC grant awarded to the City of Albany for improvements within the Tivoli Nature Preserve. This was part of a larger initiative associated with Albany 2030 to revitalize the underused green space in downtown Albany.

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The City of Albany and Capital District Transportation Committee is preparing a feasibility study to identify a multi-use trail connection from Albany’s Hudson River waterfront west to Six Mile Waterworks Park and Rensselaer Lake.

One of our 2023 high school interns, Kercel Montes, created this video and provides a little more in-depth information about Friends of Tivoli Lake Preserve and Farm.

Video credits: Music “Saving the Floe” by Blue Dot Sessions (https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/212043)
Photos and Videos: Kercel Montes and Kim Tateo
Video Editing: Kercel Montes

 

Community Guidelines

We strive to create a welcoming and safe space for individuals of all walks of life to participate in our organization and community events.

  • We hold the health and safety of our animals as a priority. While we do not use our animals for meat, we respect those that do. We do our best to care for the animals, ensure they are cared for and loved, and honor their life cycle. Many of the animals are older and living out their lives peacefully.

  • Our animals are working animals. We are not a petting zoo. Please approach them with reverence and the respect you would wish from another being. For your safety, do not touch the animals or the fence. We use electric fences around the flock to protect them from predators and direct their grazing.

  • We love nature and believe in stewarding the land as best as possible. With this in mind, we are constantly humbled by the Earth and do our best to co-create our spaces with each other and the land itself. This translates into a vibrant garden space with natural plants and curated sections mingled together.

  • We are grateful for our partnership with the City of Albany for allowing us to work in this space and provide these unique opportunities. Please note that all our events and programming are pre-approved by the City of Albany.

  • We encourage self-care and reflection by offering brief guided meditations at the beginning or end of some of our events (this is usually noted on our website calendar). The intention of this is to create a moment to “arrive together” (before an event) or honor our time together (at the close of an event). These meditations are optional. If these exercises do not feel good, please know you do not have to participate. Kindly step aside or arrive late. However, please do not disrupt the experience for those who are participating.

  • As a community organization, it is important that every volunteer feels they have a voice and that there is space to exercise that voice. Some decision-making is done as a group. This decision-making method creates an open, warm environment that engages all community members. We strive for consensus decision-making, with deference to the wisdom of project leads and majority rule when consensus is not reached.

Safe Space

  • This space, which includes our physical gardens and social media channels, is designed to be a safe and inclusive space for respectful and civilized conversations that honor each of us and our journeys. We ask that you please help us continue creating spaces with kind and constructive conversations, even if you do not agree on a topic or statement. If something does not align with you, kindly move on to something else that inspires you instead.

  • Maintain and respect boundaries. If you have a boundary or need something, please speak up and share this so everyone is aware. 

  • Please refrain from any type of hate speech or bullying. We believe in the power of restorative justice through community dialogue. Immediate removal from social media or our online membership will result from commentary or posts contributing to racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, fatphobia, or ableism. You are welcome to contact Tivoli staff with questions and/or concerns. If you leave harmful comments of this sort on our social media channels, your comment will be removed, and your account may be blocked or restricted.

  • Please refrain from participating in gossip or triangulation. We hold space for each other and see the best in each other and situations. Please avoid spreading negative rumors or judgment. If you feel unsafe, please notify our team of your concern.

  • Please be polite and courteous with one another and staff at our events and work parties. Know that our events welcome everyone; each person may be on a different journey and have different experiences. Don’t make assumptions. Healthy disagreements may arise, but please refrain from personal attacks, hurtful comments, or harassment, no matter the situation. As much as possible, leave your biases and emotions out of conflict. We all have biases, and it is important to feel and express emotions, but neither serves a positive resolution of conflict.

  • Teach and learn from each other.

  • Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns by emailing us tivolivolunteers@gmail.com.

Thank you for your support and cooperation as we work to create a safe and nurturing space for all. 

 







 

*This information has been found using the Native Land Finder website.