As climate change continues to negatively impact Georgia residents, data and technology aid experts in identifying neighborhoods that are most in need of trees.
Lauren Marshall, senior manager for program innovation with the Arbor Day Foundation said the organization’s mission is to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees.
“We plant trees across the landscape for a variety of reasons,” said Marshall. “We get engaged in reforestation after wildfires and other natural disasters. We plant in communities all around the globe.”
Experts say reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is one of the most important roles that trees play. When planted in the right place, trees naturally cool homes, keep people safe and lower energy bills by around 20%.
“We recently set off what we’re calling our Focus 500 goals,” said Marshall. “We’ve committed to planting 500 million new trees by June of 2027, which is a significant acceleration for us. Ninety percent of our urban activity will be in underserved and low canopy neighborhoods or what we refer to as neighborhoods of greatest need.