Whether you live in a town with a single main street or a megacity, the trees and green space in your larger neighborhood are key to the economic, human and environmental health of you and your community. The presence, or absence, of a thriving urban forest has a direct impact on our individual and collective quality of life in more ways that most people ever realize.
In order to ensure our urban trees are doing the most for us, we need to know what we’ve got. Next comes an evaluation of what is needed and how to get there. And underscoring all of that is why this investment is so important and how it pays us back.
Why It’s So Important to Invest in our Urban Forest
A community’s green infrastructure — trees, vegetation and water — is just as important as its roads, pipes and power lines. Decades of research on small towns to dense megacities, show that our urban forests deliver measurable economic benefits, reduce strain on built infrastructure and improve people’s health and quality of life on many different fronts.