Urban Forestry: Catch This Green Wave Coming Now to a City Near You
Written by Keith Nickolaus, CRBA Writers Team
Urban forestry initiatives in the Bay Area are taking root as we speak, and poised for rapid growth — paving the way for less paving and offering a great way to act locally to combat global warming. From city tree-planting master plans, to large-scale community volunteer initiatives, shadier parks and cooler, greener urban schoolyards, fast-growing public investment is fueling urban forestry initiatives in our own backyards.
This blog post explores the various urban forestry projects underway across the region, highlighting how they enhance sustainability and community engagement. Whether you're a seasoned environmental advocate or a newcomer eager to make a difference, the opportunities for involvement are abundant.
“We don’t have to choose between urban communities and green urban spaces. We can have both.”
What Is Urban Forestry?
Urban Forestry is just what it sounds like, planting and tending to tree growth in urban areas. For many urban areas it also means actively replenishing treeless or near treeless hardscapes with something more inviting, lush, shady, and refreshing than concrete and pavement.
Urban forestry is also one additional urgent response to the climate crisis that intersects with climate justice, climate resilience, and the battle to reduce atmospheric carbon.
Climate crisis and climate resilience: Urban forests help mitigate the effects of urban heat islands and, as we all know from grade school, trees turn carbon into oxygen, aka carbon sequestration, making trees allies in our battle to combat global warming.
Climate justice: Today, often with the help of new digital mapping technologies, more cities are taking a ‘tree census’ and building awareness around the tree-haves and tree-have-nots across urban communities and urban counties. Today, most municipal or regional urban forestry initiatives include designs to address these green gaps as they put more trees in the ground — in parkways, parks, and school yards.
Green economy: As we’ll see in a moment, a growing wave of interest and funding for urban forestry initiatives is spotlighting the need for capacity building that includes workforce education, training, and development.
Mitigating Impacts of Urbanization: By 2050, 68% of the world’s population- more than 6.5 billion people - will live in urban areas, including some 400 million in the US.
We’re already seeing how urban landscapes and global warming collude to make many cities increasingly harsh, and very hot, environments (aka ‘urban heat island effect’). For city leaders and planners, trees offer a simple, highly effective, and low-tech solution to the urban climate crisis.
Trees and large-scale tree planting and maintenance efforts also offer numerous ‘co-benefits’ for urban communities, such as shade, bird habitat, beauty, and, as noted, new green jobs.
“Miyawaki Forests use modern science to supercharge Mother Nature’s ancient and extraordinary regenerative powers. No gadgets. Nothing fancy or expensive. Just soil, plants and community.”
Another cool thing about urban forestry is that it offers city folks like us here in the Bay Area a ready opportunity to ‘act locally’ to fight global warming and improve our own cities, to make them more livable.
Public Works urban forestry crews worked alongside community volunteers on Arbor Day 2024 to plant 100 young street trees in the Tenderloin, NoPa and Hayes Valley. (Image courtesy of City of San Francisco, Department of Public Works)
Urban Forestry in the Local Context
Now that we’ve taken an aerial view of all the benefits of urban forestry, you’re probably wondering, can we do this where we live, here in the Bay Area?
The answer is ‘yes.’ We can, and people are.
Growing awareness and interest, more active city planning and design efforts, and the accelerating pace of local, state, and national funding — all around urban forestry and urban greening initiatives — make it a perfect moment to catch this wave and get involved.
State and Bay Area Urban Forestry Funding — A Fast-Growing Money Tree!
From San Jose to San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Oakland, Berkeley, Concord, and other greater Bay Area cities, recent funding is irrigating a new crop of urban forestry right in our own backyards.
“The 12th district in California, represented by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, received $9 million, with $8 million specifically earmarked for Oakland and $1 million going to Berkeley… Both the grantees and the Urban and Community Forestry Program utilized the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool to help identify which communities would benefit most. The money will be disbursed in the coming months.”
For example…
IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) funding is flowing into urban forestry projects around the US through the USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program. In 2023 that program awarded $1.5 billion to states, projects, and national initiatives that support urban forestry efforts, such as urban tree-planting, urban forest planning and management, establishing and expanding native-species urban forestry nurseries, and related activities, particularly in disadvantaged communities.
Right here in California, $30.8 million is currently being invested in urban forestry initiatives across the state through CAL FIRE, California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention. In fact, the window to submit proposals for this year’s funding round closes on May 30th.
$42 million in grant funding was dispersed in 2023 to some thirteen Bay Area cities and organizations, funding designated for urban forestry projects serving under-resourced communities.
Multiple California legislative proposals drawing attention this year would also presumably direct money to urban forestry projects, for greener schoolyards in particular.
An Aerial View of Bay Area Urban Forestry Action
Here’s a quick view of what this local wave of greenbacks and urban greening projects look like, city by city, at the moment.
The funding figures below are amounts awarded from the 2023 CAL Fire Urban Forestry grant program with federal IRA funds.
A quick note — You may observe city initiatives benefiting specific neighborhoods as opposed to city-wide action. Keep in mind that the grant awards in question require applicants to ensure project funds target under-resourced neighborhoods and residents.
San Francisco Public Works — $12 million
This massive initiative focuses on expanding existing urban tree canopy to maximize community access to the health, social, ecological, and economic benefits of urban forest habitats in historically nature-deprived neighborhoods, where tree scarcity also exacerbates heat island effects. Key components of the initiative include shade tree plantings and the promotion of resource conservation and sustainability.
SF Public Works officials say the department “has a goal of adding an additional 30,000 trees to reach the 155,000 mark by 2040.” Goals include stemming the decline of the urban forest, bringing the many benefits of trees to more neighborhoods, and achieving a more equitable distribution of tree canopy.
San Francisco (City & County) Parks and Recreation — $2 million
With this new funding, the parks department will oversee the development of a comprehensive Canopy Management Plan for parks in southeast San Francisco, and develop a workforce Pre-Apprentice Program to hire and train local residents to plant and maintain city trees.
Oakland — $8 million
After planting over 700 trees in 2022-23, city leaders in Oakland are currently in the process of finalizing the city’s first urban forest master plan. Key goals and action initiatives include citywide tree maintenance and pruning cycles, long-term tree care, planting, and maintenance, treating trees as ‘green infrastructure’ for the purposes of city planning, and promoting additional tree planting in public spaces and encouraging tree planting on private lots as well.
Berkeley — $1 million
This project will fund Berkeley’s “Trees Make Life Better” street tree request and planting program, offering free street-tree planting to ‘under-treed’ neighborhoods concentrated in west Berkeley flatland neighborhoods. Other initiatives include the development of a community-driven urban forestry master plan, hiring new full-time staff, and engaging numerous community volunteers over the course of five years.
Concord — $1 million
Concord’s initiative will focus on planting shade trees to expand existing urban tree canopy. Goals include promoting a healthier and cooler city and increasing natural beauty in public spaces.
Other Bay Area cities receiving 2023 Urban Forestry funding include Fremont, Hayward, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Vallejo, and Walnut Creek.
Green Schoolyards
Have kids in K12 schools?
Want to be a school ally and take local action to fight global warming?...
Efforts to make concrete- and asphalt-forward schoolyards greener, cooler, shadier and in many cases cheaper to maintain (believe it or not) are an offshoot of larger urban forestry initiatives that are a focus of fast-growing interest in their own right.
Green schoolyard initiatives can take many shapes and sizes:
Planting shade and fruit trees for school gardens and outdoor education spaces
Creating cooler playgrounds and gathering areas
Installing dense and lush ‘pocket forests’ that create beauty, inspire wonder, and can even shade multistory classroom buildings!
Community volunteers planting a Pocket Forest (Miyawaki Forest) at Berkeley Technology Academy (BUSD). (Image courtesy of SUGi Project)
If you want to get involved in green schoolyard advocacy, keep in mind that schools often partner with community nonprofits — like those listed below — to pursue these goals.
Likewise, schools and districts may be eligible to apply for and receive CAL Fire urban forestry grants or receive project funding through city initiatives.
But as has been reported, “decision-makers in schools and cities often work in silos, with very specific responsibilities like curriculum design, mental health or maintenance” creating a barrier, or at least some short-term inertia, in schools capitalizing on these opportunities.
That said, strong and committed parent advocates can work alongside schools to help leaders get the extra nudge and support needed to bring greening projects to fruition, offering a great opportunity for those with young children to make a difference.
“Our big, green audacious goal is to plant enough trees by 2035 so that when mature, they’ll provide 30% shade cover to child-accessible areas.”
Here are a few examples of Bay Area nonprofits helping make greener schoolyards:
Growing Together Bay Area — has been involved in projects at more than 30 public schools across Oakland, West Contra Costa, & San Lorenzo Unified School Districts.
The Trust for Public Land Community Schoolyards program has helped implement schoolyard greening designs at four OUSD schools: Melrose Leadership Academy, César E. Chávez Education Center, Markham Elementary School, and Bridges Academy.
The nonprofits Green Pocket Forests and SUGi partnered with BUSD to install three dense pocket forests, also known as ‘Miyawaki Forests’ at three BUSD Schools. These pocket forests (derived from the Miyawaki forest method) are more than just tall shade trees, they’re literal ‘forests’ (albeit fit into relatively small spaces) and typically host well over 50 different native species.
Urban Forestry In Action — A Local Snapshot
What does urban forestry look like up close, in practice? You can visit Cesar Chavez Elementary School in Oakland to find out!
In 2017, The Trust for Public Land, Green Schoolyards America, and OUSD launched a Living Schoolyards Initiative to transform asphalt covered OUSD playgrounds into much greener, cooler, environmentally healthy and resilient landscapes.
The resulting $1,500,00.00 living schoolyard project at Cesar Chavez Elementary is now a model of urban forestry in action.
13,000 square feet of asphalt removed
58 trees planted for cooling and shaded seating areas
An outdoor classroom with planter boxes and fruit trees
A stormwater runoff capture system was installed
A custom wood play structure with a ‘natural’ appeal and natural materials was installed to replace the older play structures and complement the green schoolyard renovations
Green Schoolyard initiative transforms Cesar Chavez Elementary School (OUSD)
And, now it’s been reported that just last year, staff at OUSD’s Melrose Elementary learned they will have an opportunity to make similar transformations at their mostly asphalt and concrete schoolyard. Mayra Gudiño is a parent who came alongside school staff to help make this possible.
When completed, the schoolyard is slated to also serve as a local community park during evening and weekend hours.
“They don’t have green areas, they don’t have shade. Everything is cement, children get hurt very often.”
Catching the Urban Forestry Wave – How to Get Involved
As our cities grow, and grow hotter, so does the need for greener and shadier landscapes. Urban forestry isn't just about landscaping though; it’s about creating healthier environments, getting more carbon out of our atmosphere, restoring some measure of environmental balance to our cities, recovery of wildlife habitats, and taking local action to combat a global climate crisis.
Quench Your Curiosity: It’s not hard to learn more about urban forestry. Here’s two good online resources for background knowledge:
You can also look for more hands-on training and workshops through these and other organizations in the Bay Area:
Canopy.org (South Bay)
Green Pocket Forests (Bay Area Miyawaki Forest Academy)
Advocate for More Trees: Reach out to your city council and local government to express your support for urban forestry funding. Learn about existing master plans for urban tree planting and maintenance and similar urban forestry initiatives — with an eye to a role you can play to support these efforts.
Volunteer Locally: While large citywide tree planting and maintenance plans and large-scale urban forestry initiatives are now extending into long term plans for workforce education and training, many short-term projects — such as tree planting as specific schools, parks, or other public sites — rely on volunteers.
Educate and Engage: Host or attend workshops on the benefits of urban forestry. Use these opportunities to educate your neighbors and engage with local schools to integrate green spaces into their curriculums. K12 educators can teach children urban forestry, including their requirements and their many environmental benefits.
Support Green Schoolyards: Campaign for and support initiatives that transform schoolyards into green oases that provide children with a natural learning environment while contributing to urban cooling and carbon capture.
Support Urban Forestry Nonprofits: Many urban forestry projects, and green schoolyard projects in particular, rely on partnerships between schools, civic entities, and nonprofits with tree planting and landscaping expertise. Look for opportunities to support urban forestry nonprofits with financial gifts, in-kind donations, or volunteer work.
Hoping you liked this foray into urban forestry in the Bay Area! If you have additional ideas or resources to share with readers, please post in the comments below. Are you involved in any urban forestry initiatives where you live? Please share your reflections or experiences.