Last week, Trees for Community Recovery campaign supporter American Forests released their Tree Equity Score tool, an online database that analyzes income, employment, age, ethnicity, health and surface temperature of tree canopy data of nearly 500 regions in the United States. Unfortunately, findings from the tool confirm the harsh reality of tree inequity in the country. According to the tool, neighborhoods with a majority of people in poverty have 25 percent less tree canopy on average than those with a minority of people in poverty.
At Trees for Community Recovery, we believe that all communities, regardless of their size, racial and ethnic makeup, and predominant socioeconomic status, deserve to have access to the numerous benefits trees provide. Learn more about our campaign supporter American Forests' insights on tree inequity and their solutions to end it, in the New York Times:
Access to clean air and outdoor activities seems like a basic right. But in cities across the country, lower-income communities and communities of color more often live in neighborhoods with a higher share of concrete surfaces such as roads, buildings and parking lots, and a very limited number of trees and parks.
Neighborhoods with a majority of people in poverty have 25 percent less tree canopy on average than those with a minority of people in poverty, according to American Forests’ Tree Equity Score tool that analyzes income, employment, age, ethnicity, health and surface temperature with tree canopy data in 486 metro areas.
In the most extreme cases, wealthy areas have 65 percent more tree canopy than communities where nine out of 10 people live below the poverty line.
Rich Americans enjoy more greenery in their environment compared with people in lower-income communities. This trend is present in cities across the country.
In certain areas the difference can be particularly striking...Read More.
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