On December 5, 2019, following the lead of many intelligent cities worldwide—such as Melbourne, Victoria, Australia—the city of New Orleans, Louisiana‘s Department of Parks and Parkways announced important new reforestation initiatives in support of its mission to restore and increase the city’s green infrastructure.
Trees perform vital functions, such as reducing storm water flooding, lowering temperatures and energy bills, enhancing property values and improving the well-being of our citizens.
New Orlean’s Master Plan specifies restoration and expansion of the urban forest to a 50 percent tree canopy coverage as a part of the goal for a more resilient City by 2030. In order to facilitate this goal, Parks and Parkways recently completed a comprehensive citywide tree inventory.
The inventory will guide future planting and maintenance efforts and quantifies the environmental and social impact of our existing urban forest.
The inventory revealed that there is much work to be done: New Orleans only contains 105,801 trees on public property, ranking nationally as having one of the lowest tree canopies. Via collaborative efforts from many community partners, the city has redoubled efforts restore its tree canopy.
On December 6 and 7, SOUL (Sustaining Our Urban Landscape), Department of Parks and Parkways, and the Office of District C Councilmember Kristin Gisleson Palmer, planted 275 trees, thanks to funding from the Preserving Historic Algiers Community Corporation. The trees are clustered in the area bound by Brooklyn Avenue, Park Boulevard, Vallette Street and Opelousas Avenue as well as clustered along Atlantic Avenue, Thayer Avenue and L.B. Landry Avenue.
This project is exploring an opt-out planting strategy where the community pre-selects streets for plantings; property owners can “opt-out” of the project if they desire. Tree clustering allows for plantings to have a more impactful scale. It is a proven strategy that produces numerous environmental benefits, which has been implemented by numerous other major cities, including Atlanta.
On December 14, the Department of Parks & Parkways hosted its annual Treesy Giveaway Event in partnership with NOLA Tree Project and the Audubon Nature Institute. 850 trees were given away to residents, with education on planting, maintenance and benefits regarding storm water management.
Photo of historic plantation near New Orleans by JamesDeMers from Pixabay.