Denver students plant 2,000 trees, shrubs for Colorado's first-ever pocket forest

The first-ever pocket forest in Colorado now has a name: "The Green Woods." Last fall, volunteers and students planted more than 2,000 trees, shrubs and other plants at Marie L. Greenwood Elementary School. 

The nonprofit The Nature Conservancy said the small plot of land can have a big impact on the neighborhood. 

"The idea is that after a few years, this forest will be thriving and established, and that will really limit the water needs while also cooling the neighborhood and creating a place for people to connect and for birds and other insects to thrive," said Chris Hawkins, director of the Denver branch of The Nature Conservancy.

The Nature Conservancy said Denver's Montbello neighborhood could start seeing the benefits of the pocket forest in as little as five years.