The Nature Conservancy Proposal

Planning Today for a Greener Tomorrow: Urban Forests, Climate Equity, and Community Resilience in the Metro Denver Region

Project Leads:

Chris Hawkins, Urban Conservation Program Manager
Drew Rayburn, Director of Conservation Science

Executive Summary:
Climate change is amplifying the existence and impacts of historical inequities and community marginalization in U.S. cities. As the effects of increasing temperature are magnified in urban areas lacking forests, The Nature Conservancy Colorado is working in Denver to address tree canopy inequity with the goals of a) improving community health and resilience, and b) enhancing urban habitat. Many neighborhoods in Denver have inadequate and disproportionate tree canopy as determined by both percent tree canopy cover and types and variety of trees comprising the local urban forest. For example, the Globeville, Elyria-Swansea (GES) neighborhoods have ~5% tree canopy cover––among the lowest of all Denver neighborhoods––and are especially vulnerable to climate change impacts compared to more affluent neighborhoods with significantly greater tree canopy.

The Nature Conservancy has been working with community leaders and other partners to develop a program to invest in planting thousands of trees in the GES neighborhoods over the next decade to build community strength and resilience, to the benefit of people and nature. On a parallel track, the City and County of Denver will also be launching a resiliency planning initiative that The Nature Conservancy hopes to help guide and influence. We want to better understand what policies and administrative frameworks (e.g., city regulations, ordinances, subsidies, accounting standards, etc.) other U.S. and international communities have developed and implemented to increase and enhance tree canopy, to build resilience in the face of a warmer and potentially drier future, and to simultaneously account for deep-rooted socioeconomic inequities.

Key words:
Community resilience, climate equity, green cities, urban forestry, resiliency planning

Links:
View full proposal
Watch partner video
Access networking event Zoom link