Irving District 3 Candidate Tammam Alwan

1. As an elected official, what role could you play to promote the use of public spaces for gardens and botanical features that could support beneficial wildlife, like pollinators and native plants?

Parks are infrastructure, and part of that means thinking carefully about what we plant in them. One of my priorities is expanding tree canopy across Irving, and native trees are the right place to start. They don't need supplemental watering after the first couple of years, which makes them cost-effective to establish. Organizations like Texas Tree Foundation already facilitate donations of trees to cities, and partnerships with Keep Irving Beautiful can extend that further into corridor plantings and park spaces with the help of volunteers.

Native plants do more than look good. They support the migratory birds and pollinators that move through this region, many of which depend on specific plant communities they won't find in a lawn of non-native turf. That ecological function is real and worth protecting. Irving's location along migratory routes makes it a meaningful stop for species that need it.

I'd also push for a walkability study similar to what Denver has done, to understand how many residents can actually reach our parks on foot. Being landlocked means we may not be able to add acres, but we can add connectivity through trails and paths that get more people outside and into green space. That matters for mental health. Research on access to nature consistently shows reduced anxiety and depression, and young adults see some of the strongest benefits.

2. How could future developments in Irving like the old Texas Stadium site be incentivized to include green spaces and botanical elements?

The honest answer is that tree canopy and green space need to stop being treated as optional amenities and start being treated as essential infrastructure, the same way we treat roads and drainage. When a major rezoning comes before council, the question of how much shade, permeable surface, and native planting will be included should be part of the negotiation, not an afterthought.

For a site the size of the former Texas Stadium footprint, the leverage is significant. Incentive agreements should include performance benchmarks, and green infrastructure belongs on that list alongside traffic mitigation and utility capacity. A development that generates thousands of new residents or daily visitors and provides no meaningful canopy or pollinator habitat in a Texas summer isn't a complete project.

That site is also in the corridor where Campion Trail connections are being developed as part of Irving's parks master plan. Getting the green infrastructure right there isn't just about one development. It's about whether residents can walk or bike into that larger trail network that connects to nearby cities and actually want to linger when they arrive.

3. What are some of your favorite places to enjoy nature in Irving / the DFW area?

Northwest Park is where my son does most of his exploring, and we've loved watching the variety of migratory waterfowl that come through the pond there across the seasons. We're an avid birding family, and Irving's position along migratory routes means there's always something worth looking for if you know when to go.

My first real introduction to birding as a practice was at Furneaux Creek in Carrollton, where I also encountered a monarch garden built by local volunteers for the first time. That experience stuck with me.

We have a family membership to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden and to the American Horticultural Society and try to visit botanical gardens wherever we travel. Grapevine Botanical Garden at Heritage Park is a great example of what's possible with a limited footprint. They took a constrained space and made it genuinely special, which is relevant for a landlocked city thinking about how to do more with what it has.

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