One of my favorite books of all time is Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, a tale about the relationship between a boy and a selfless tree that does whatever it can to make the boy happy. Even as an adult, the book still gives me a renewed appreciation for the many ways in which trees impact our lives.
Here’s a way that we can give back: The Urban Forest Map, a collaborative project to map every single tree in the San Francisco area and ultimately create a greener, more livable urban environment.
Are you a San Francisco resident with a family of trees in your neighborhood? Are you enjoying some vacation time or a wrapping up a business trip in the city? Just identify any tree the area, and then visit the Urban Forest Map to locate that tree on a map and record any observations. You can even just snap and submit a photo.
The information gathered will help urban foresters and city planners to better manage trees in specific areas, track and combat tree pests and diseases, and plan future tree plantings. Climatologists can use it to better understand the effects of urban forests on climates, and students and citizen scientists can use it to learn about the role trees play in the urban ecosystem.
Giving back with Urban Forest Map is easy: Find a tree. Add a tree. Edit a tree.