TREE PEOPLE

Los Angeles, USA
TreePeople

TreePeople, a Los Angeles non profit organization, directed a project to uncover tree canopy data to support municipal decision making in partnership with the Loyola Marymount Center for Urban Resilience. They found that one fifth of the tree canopy in Los Angeles grows where only 1% of the city's population lives. The organization was founded in 1970 and launched a million tree campaign in 1984 to promote shade across Los Angeles. To date, they have planted over 3 million trees with a volunteer network of over 3,000 residents, focusing on southeast LA and northeast San Fernando Valley, which are two of Los Angeles most underserved neighborhoods, impacted by the urban heat island effect, seasonal flooding and soil pollution. The organization partners with communities to care for the trees while they are established in the first three to five years after planting. In addition to on-the-ground work planting, TreePeople has established resources and engaged in policy work that has expanded the work of the organization into water management to address increasing flooding events across the city, and transfer knowledge from other hot urban areas in Australia to Los Angeles. Their resources include design solutions that expand from trees to include swale systems and pollinator habitats as well as permeable paving plans and lists of appropriate groundcover, shrub and tree species. TreePeople prioritizes heat island mitigation with public health improvement and a focus on the most socioeconomically vulnerable populations in the city.

1973 - ongoing
45 acres
124 feet above sea level

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