Mature trees sequester substantial amounts of carbon, something that saplings cannot accomplish for decades. The loss of even a single tree impacts air quality, heat levels, and stormwater drainage. So every loss of a mature tree contributes to the climate crisis and impacts public health. Neighborhoods and towns with less wealth and more people of color have fewer trees and are at greater risk for health and climate emergencies, making the loss of mature trees also an environmental justice issue. This online forum on Thursday, April 21 at 7 pm EDT will make the case that trees are a public good and discuss steps that local organizations and communities can take to protect our tree canopies.
New additions: Mayor Wu and State Senator Creem
A Livable Commonwealth: Trees as a Public Good – Thursday, April 21, 2022, 7:00 pm EDT
Register here.
Reading that the loss of even one single tree affects air quality, heat levels, and stormwater drainage, thus contributing to the climate crisis and negatively affecting public health, made me think that even more affluent communities may have the same problem. In my neighborhood, people don’t seem to want back yards anymore. The new houses go all the way to the setbacks, so trees in what used to be backyards are chopped down. I see many trees being taken down. On route 9 just west of the Chestnut Hill Mall, it looks like 20-30 trees have been taken down, I’m guessing to be building condos or apartments.
Newton Cemetery and Arboretum (NCA) wants to cut 220 trees near Commonwealth Ave, 90% of which are mature, healthy oaks! And they don’t even want to replant the required number of trees–a number that doesn’t begin to cover even half of the loss in mitigation of flooding, air pollution, and heat! It’s important to write to the city council and the mayor to let them know you are opposed because NCA is appealing their permit decline to the mayor. You can write to the mayor and city council here: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/save-newtons-tree-canopy?source=direct_link&
If you care about the climate, please join the forum to find out not only how important mature trees are but also how to pass legislation to save trees and maintain their huge contribution to climate mitigation.
Register here to see the Trees as a Public Good forum live or to get the link to the recording afterward: https://bit.ly/Trees-As-A-Public-Good