Tree Equity Planning
A Canopy Equity and Resilience Plan will guide departments to grow more trees in neighborhoods that need them most and in partnership with the communities most affected.
What is a Tree Equity Plan?
Seattle, like many cities, has inequities in tree cover where neighborhoods experiencing social, economic and environmental injustices tend to have lower tree canopy. This plan:
- Identifies priority neighborhoods for growing canopy to reduce inequities
- Creates a profile for each priority neighborhood, describing current urban forest conditions, as a starting point
- Incorporates engagement with community deeply rooted in these places; and
- Aligns feedback from community partners with City urban forestry activities to build strategies for action.
Identifying the Priority Locations
Tree canopy equity describes how fairly trees are distributed across the city. Priority neighborhoods for growing our urban forest are those where:
- Tree canopy cover is less than 25%
- The City of Seattle Racial and Social Equity Index identifies the neighborhood as “most disadvantaged.” (The racial and social index includes data on race, language, origin, socioeconomic disadvantage, and health)
- Environmental health risk factors, including high heat and high air pollution, are high
The Canopy Equity and Resilience Plan focuses on the following locations in these neighborhoods where all of these factors are present:
- Roxhill/ South Delridge
- South Park and Georgetown
- Beacon Hill
- Rainier Beach and Othello
- Columbia City and Genessee
- Central District
- Chinatown-International District
- Haller Lake/ Northgate
Learn more about identifying priority locations.
Outreach and Engagement
Outreach and engagement with communities living in these neighborhoods is underway. Through focus groups, we’re engaging invited partners with deep connections to priority neighborhoods to provide local community-guided input and firsthand experience.
Goals for these focus groups will be to share urban forestry overviews of the neighborhoods, including programs and projects, and learn about the communities' experience with trees from participants.