FORESTS

Urban Forests: Healing our Cities

By Andy Lipkis, founder and president of TreePeople

People plant trees in cities hoping to improve the quality of urban life by spreading some of the forest's goodness. Trees alone can do a lot of good, and they can accomplish multiple additional benefits when they are planted and cared for as components of an urban forest.

When most cities were built, the natural cycles of water, energy and air were disrupted, yielding numerous environmental and human health problems. Urban forestry represents a new approach to managing city infrastructure (water and power supply, flood control, pollution prevention) wherein these "disintegrated" components are managed as part of a whole system--modeled after forest ecosystems.

Not merely a collection of city trees, urban forests can be designed to produce multiple benefits. For example, trees can shade buildings, lowering air conditioning energy requirements and lessening air pollution. When planted to replace impervious surfaces such as asphalt and concrete, and when their leaves and branches are captured and used as mulch instead of being thrown away, trees can help prevent flooding, erosion and stormwater pollution.

This new urban forestry represents one of our best hopes for making large cities sustainable.

As this kind of urban forestry is not yet being practiced in most cities, it is a wonderful opportunity for Jewish environmentalists to join together with other community groups to get involved in hands-on work as "citizen foresters" and to advocate positive solutions to urban environmental problems.

Individuals and groups can plant and care for trees in neighborhood streets, parks, schoolyards, parking lots and historic watersheds. As citizen foresters, "adopt" the trees you plant and make a commitment to establish the trees by providing their water, food, and protection for their first 5 years. You can also make sure your city has an urban forestry program with an adequate budget. Trees and urban forests need advocates to speak up for them to ensure they thrive. Be a voice for the trees.

Resources:

To learn how to organize a successful urban forestry project, read The Simple Act of Planting a Tree, A Citizen Foresters' Guide to Healing Your Neighborhood, Your City and Your World (available from TreePeople).

Work with a local non-profit tree group. To locate one in your area, go to the TreePeople website or contact your State Department of Forestry.