American Forests is bringing a Tree Equity approach to help Boston develop a plan to create and maintain a thriving, sustainable urban forest. With American Forests’ guidance, the Boston Urban Forest Plan will focus on ensuring that all of the city’s residents get the benefits of robust urban tree cover. The first phase of the year-long project — a citywide tree inventory — started in the spring of 2021.
American Forests is partnering with nonprofit organization Speak for the Trees, Boston, which is working to improve the size and health of Boston’s urban forest. Speak for the Trees’ Teen Urban Tree Corps program trains youth from underserved communities in mapping and measuring trees throughout the city and pays them to do this work over the summer. American Forests has helped the program incorporate elements of Tree Equity into this work.
American Forests is also creating a Tree Equity Score Analyzer for Boston. This tool will make it possible for people in the city to dive deep into decision-making around Tree Equity and improve their neighborhood Tree Equity scores. The tool also will make it possible to scope out different scenarios for tree projects and do more targeted tree planting projects that align with local climate, health and economic goals.
