Canopy Commons

Canopy Commons is a forthcoming digital platform to facilitate a watershed-scale gift economy in wild and semi-wild tree foods. (By “semi-wild,” we mean planted by people but not intensively managed.) By enabling foragers and landowners to exchange information on their respective gifts and needs and inviting them into practices of reciprocity, Canopy Commons will improve access to food, strengthen community, and shift the relationship between people and ecosystems towards mutual, reciprocal nourishment.

Canopy Commons will also complement Wild Potomac’s ongoing work designing and establishing community food forests by inviting more people into those spaces and compiling and disseminating information about species, yields, and care needs. Wild Potomac was recently awarded funds to develop the digital platform and pilot Canopy Commons in three municipalities along the Potomac River.

We’re excited to launch this project beginning at the end of 2026. Stay tuned for more details to come!