The conservation organization American Forests and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have launched the Washington Tree Equity Collaborative, a statewide partnership to expand and fortify neighborhood tree canopy cover, according to a statement from the DNR. In the next three years, it will engage cities, community organizations and stakeholders to build urban forestry programs with the aim of keeping cities cool during heat waves and improving human health outcomes.
Seattle is among the first cities to sign onto the Collaborative. During the launch event, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell pledged, among others, to plant 8,000 trees on both public and private properties, and 40,000 trees in parks and natural areas, in the next five years. "Trees are critical to our health, climate and quality of life in Seattle, and our most recent Tree Canopy Cover Assessment shows that we have more work to do to protect and grow our tree canopy," Mayor Harrell said during the launch event.
The Collaborative will use data provided by American Forests’ Tree Equity Score tool, which measures canopy coverage across socioeconomic lines in US cities. According to the tool, nearly 85 per cent of urban neighborhoods in Washington have inadequate tree cover. “To achieve full Tree Equity, we need to plant and grow 522 million trees across urbanized America,” writes DNR. em
