A novel resident outreach program improves street tree planting outcomes in Los Angeles
Urban tree planting is a key climate change resilience strategy for many municipalities, but remains challenged by establishment mortality in semi-arid regions. Street trees offer shade benefits to adjacent structures and pavement, and enable public works departments to implement heat island reducti...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Environmental Challenges |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667010022001524 |
| _version_ | 1811185444984979456 |
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| author | Katherine A. McNamara Matthew Kostelny Grace Kim David M. Keating Jocelyn Estiandan Jean Armbruster |
| author_facet | Katherine A. McNamara Matthew Kostelny Grace Kim David M. Keating Jocelyn Estiandan Jean Armbruster |
| author_sort | Katherine A. McNamara |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urban tree planting is a key climate change resilience strategy for many municipalities, but remains challenged by establishment mortality in semi-arid regions. Street trees offer shade benefits to adjacent structures and pavement, and enable public works departments to implement heat island reduction interventions to exposed communities. But in Los Angeles, resident approval and written agreement to water for 3–5 years is required to plant street trees in residential public rights of way. Historically, 10% of residents contacted agreed to adopt street trees, and 50% of trees planted survived. Community engagement strategies, shown to improve tree acceptance rates and survival elsewhere, had not been tested here. This mixed-methods evaluation of a street tree planting and public education project in 2018 evaluated a novel youth outreach strategy to engage residents. Regular watering was provided post-transplant for varying periods. Residents were surveyed and project partners were interviewed; tree health was assessed visually. Resident feedback on the engagement strategy was strongly positive. Residents surveyed demonstrated measured learning outcomes, and satisfaction with education was associated with improved tree survival. Project partners identified numerous co-benefits, primarily among youth educators, and revealed an increased capacity for future urban greening work. Univariate logistic regression identified tree species, weeks of watering, and drought exposure as predictors of tree health (p < .05), but in a multivariate model, only certain tree species were significant (p < .05). This evaluation identifies multiple strategies to inform future tree planting projects, increase street tree acceptance and establishment survival, and support community co-benefits. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:29:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1cf94c586bf84791951d98d65f0cbd16 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2667-0100 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:29:39Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Challenges |
| spelling | doaj.art-1cf94c586bf84791951d98d65f0cbd162022-12-22T04:21:52ZengElsevierEnvironmental Challenges2667-01002022-12-019100596A novel resident outreach program improves street tree planting outcomes in Los AngelesKatherine A. McNamara0Matthew Kostelny1Grace Kim2David M. Keating3Jocelyn Estiandan4Jean Armbruster5California State University Northridge, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Los Angeles, CA 91330-8412, USA; Corresponding author at: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health California State University Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330-8412, USA.California State University Northridge, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Los Angeles, CA 91330-8412, USAOffice of Health Assessment and Epidemiology, Los Angeles Count Department of Public Health, 313N. Figueroa St. Suite 127, Los Angeles, CA 90012, USAUniversity of New Mexico, Department of Communication & Journalism MSC 03 2240, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USALos Angeles County Department of Public Health, Policies for Livable and Active Communities and Environments (PLACE) Program, 3530 Wilshire Blvd, 8th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90010, USALos Angeles County Department of Public Health, Policies for Livable and Active Communities and Environments (PLACE) Program, 3530 Wilshire Blvd, 8th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90010, USAUrban tree planting is a key climate change resilience strategy for many municipalities, but remains challenged by establishment mortality in semi-arid regions. Street trees offer shade benefits to adjacent structures and pavement, and enable public works departments to implement heat island reduction interventions to exposed communities. But in Los Angeles, resident approval and written agreement to water for 3–5 years is required to plant street trees in residential public rights of way. Historically, 10% of residents contacted agreed to adopt street trees, and 50% of trees planted survived. Community engagement strategies, shown to improve tree acceptance rates and survival elsewhere, had not been tested here. This mixed-methods evaluation of a street tree planting and public education project in 2018 evaluated a novel youth outreach strategy to engage residents. Regular watering was provided post-transplant for varying periods. Residents were surveyed and project partners were interviewed; tree health was assessed visually. Resident feedback on the engagement strategy was strongly positive. Residents surveyed demonstrated measured learning outcomes, and satisfaction with education was associated with improved tree survival. Project partners identified numerous co-benefits, primarily among youth educators, and revealed an increased capacity for future urban greening work. Univariate logistic regression identified tree species, weeks of watering, and drought exposure as predictors of tree health (p < .05), but in a multivariate model, only certain tree species were significant (p < .05). This evaluation identifies multiple strategies to inform future tree planting projects, increase street tree acceptance and establishment survival, and support community co-benefits.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667010022001524Urban forestCommunity engagementTree educationStewardshipTree survival |
| spellingShingle | Katherine A. McNamara Matthew Kostelny Grace Kim David M. Keating Jocelyn Estiandan Jean Armbruster A novel resident outreach program improves street tree planting outcomes in Los Angeles Environmental Challenges Urban forest Community engagement Tree education Stewardship Tree survival |
| title | A novel resident outreach program improves street tree planting outcomes in Los Angeles |
| title_full | A novel resident outreach program improves street tree planting outcomes in Los Angeles |
| title_fullStr | A novel resident outreach program improves street tree planting outcomes in Los Angeles |
| title_full_unstemmed | A novel resident outreach program improves street tree planting outcomes in Los Angeles |
| title_short | A novel resident outreach program improves street tree planting outcomes in Los Angeles |
| title_sort | novel resident outreach program improves street tree planting outcomes in los angeles |
| topic | Urban forest Community engagement Tree education Stewardship Tree survival |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667010022001524 |
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