Rebuilding canopy is impossible without rebuilding trust.
Our Mission:
Reforest Richmond is a collaborative campaign to increase Richmond’s urban tree canopy to 60% by 2037 as mentioned in the Richmond 300 Master Plan. We are committed, not only to increasing citywide tree canopy, but also to dismantling systemic racism and environmental injustice through an evolving, equity-centered, community-driven effort.
Rebuilding canopy is impossible without rebuilding trust.
Roadmap to Richmond 300: Planting a Thriving Urban Forestry Program in Richmond
Join Daniel Klein, co-founder of Reforest Richmond and vice-chair of the Richmond Green City Commission, for a presentation and discussion on the current state of Richmond’s urban forest and a proposed roadmap for building a city-wide Urban Forestry program that can achieve Richmond 300’s ambitious tree canopy goals.
Race and Urban Tree Canopy:
Richmond’s past racist and anti-Black policies have contributed to significant gaps in Richmond's current urban forest. Communities of color often have fewer trees along streets, commercial corridors, around schools, and in neighborhood parks.
Today, the gaps in Richmond’s urban tree canopy are easy to see.
Deferred maintenance and defunding of city services have led to insufficient pruning and tree care, inadequate new tree plantings, and ultimately the slow decline of urban tree canopy, predominantly in lower income neighborhoods and communities of color.
Low urban tree canopy combined with large impervious surfaces contribute to Urban Heat Island effect.
How Urban Tree Canopy can help:
Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) is the layer of leaves, branches, and stems of trees that cover the ground when viewed from above. (Center for Watershed Protection)
UTC provides stormwater runoff benefits by intercepting and delaying rainfall, capturing pollutants, reducing erosion, and giving Richmond’s wastewater treatment plant more time.
Stormwater Runoff - Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Why stormwater poses an increasing challenge for Virginia - Virginia Mercury
UTC mitigates Urban Heat Island effect by shading neighborhoods, lowering air temperature, reducing air pollution, and reducing both cooling and heating costs.
Heat Island Effect - EPA
How Decades of Racist Housing Policy Left Neighborhoods Sweltering - New York Times
Urban trees provide a range of ecosystem services including habitat, shelter, and food sources for local wildlife.
The Urban Forest and Ecosystem Services: Impacts on Urban Water, Heat, and Pollution Cycles at the Tree, Street, and City Scale - Journal of Environmental Quality
Trees for life: The ecosystem service contribution of trees to food production and livelihoods in the tropics - Forest Policy and Economics
UTC is linked to a range of community health benefits from better air quality and
Health and well-being benefits of plants - Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
The benefits of trees for livable and sustainable communities - Plants, People, Planet