CANOPY BLOG

Branching Out to East Palo Alto Neighborhoods

By Canopy Team on November 20, 2017

This fall we completed another successful round of tree plantings in East Palo Alto as part of Canopy’s Branching Out program.

One tree at a time, we transform nature-deprived neighborhoods into resilient green landscapes that restore natural ecosystems and community well-being.

To realize our vision that every resident of the Mid-Peninsula can walk, play, and thrive under the shade of healthy trees, Canopy focuses on bringing urban trees to communities where they are most absent.

In neighborhoods across the region and East Palo Alto in particular, the built environment and concrete cover is the source of poor air quality, amplified noise, inefficient and wasteful water management, and susceptibility to the urban heat island effect, as concrete and blacktop heat the urban environment twice as quickly as green spaces.

That is why we launched Branching Out, to address the local green gap by bringing the healthy benefits of trees to neighborhoods and by eliminating the barriers to nature that exist for community members.

Urban trees and greening will help provide essential shade, improve water quality from polluted stormwater runoff, decrease air pollution from Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, and more build more resilient landscapes.

In partnership with the City of East Palo Alto, CAL FIRE, and other community partners, we have already planted 1,000 trees and are working towards our ambitious goal to plant 1,000 more trees over the next four years.

As part of this program we provide free street and yard trees to residents who would like one at their home and are willing to keep their tree watered.

Are you a resident interested in a free tree? Learn more and sign up here.