6 Benefits of Urban Forestry

Studies have found that communities of color have33% less tree canopy, and that low-income communities have even less when compared with whiter, more affluent communities.To bridge this gap, it’s critical that we plant trees today: a new study finds that we need to plant31.4 million trees per year in urban areas across the United States to ensure thatallcommunitiesachieve tree equity.

And more than that, trees help combat urban heat. Cities worldwide are experiencing days of extreme heat exposure attriple the rate they did in 1980.Due to climate change, this trend is expected to continue — and as a result, the risk of heat-related illness is also expected to increase.Trees are a part of the solution: shade from a healthy, mature tree canlower surface air temperatures by up to 20–45°F. 

Speaking of urban heat, 36% of US students (1.8 million kids!) attend school in an urban heat island — or, an urban area that experiences higher temperatures than surrounding areas.For kids, this can impact everything from their performance in school to their physical health. Not only does living within 100m of a tree reduce the risk of being prescribed antidepressants, butspending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is linked to good health & well-being. 

Our health & well-being is closely tied to urban forests, as trees protect us from harmful airborne pollutants, such as carbon dioxide, which trees canabsorb at a rate of 22 pounds per year during their first 20 years of growth.In that same year, that exact same tree willproduce nearly 260 pounds of oxygen.That’s a pretty good trade-off!

Let’s not forget clean water (a single tree canprevent 100+ gallons of stormwater from polluting drinking water sources, indirectly supporting wetland restoration) or biodiversity (as little as1 hectare of urban forest can provide critical stopover habitat for migrating birds) or any of the other benefits of urban trees. And all of this is happening within the context of a rapidly developing world with a rapidly changing climate. 

Clearly, trees and urban green spaces are more important than ever. And not just for their natural beauty (which, by the way, trees can increase property value by 3-15%), but for all of the many benefits they provide.