Our Goals
The Municipal Reforestation Bill is one of the most important pieces of legislation to advance climate resilience across the Commonwealth. Funding it through the Environmental Bond Bill ensures its success for years to come.
Funding and passing the bill supports a broad range of previously identified climate goals in Massachusetts:
Climate Adaptation
Increasing the urban tree canopy mitigates the adverse impacts of climate change. Urban trees absorb carbon, provide shade, mitigate stormwater damage, reduce air pollution, and provide habitat for pollinators and birds. Increasing and caring for our urban tree canopy will increase energy efficiency in urban areas. Tree canopy reduces the use of cooling and heating systems, lowering overall energy consumption. This will help the Commonwealth achieve its 2050 Net Zero mandate.
Environmental Justice
Canopy inequity is a pressing environmental injustice issue that predominantly affects low-income and/or BIPOC residents in urban communities. The Municipal Reforestation Program addresses this disparity by prioritizing planting trees in neighborhoods with a low tree canopy (less than 25%), heat islands during extreme hot weather, and high levels of air pollution.
Physical & Mental Health
Increasing green space and tree coverage is a public health intervention for physical and mental health outcomes. Heat is now the leading cause of climate change-related mortality. In urban heat islands, tree shade reduces temperatures by 10-20°F. resulting in fewer heat-related illness and death. Trees also reduce air pollutants by up to 25%, lowering the incidence of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Increased access to greenspace is associated with reduced levels of anxiety and depression in children and youth.
Workforce & Economy
Municipal urban forestry plans across the Commonwealth call for thousands of trees to be planted each year for at least the next 50 years - a level that will be difficult to meet with the capacity of the Commonwealth’s existing arboricultural industry. Further, the bill will set aside funding to train young adults from underserved communities and provides a career path in the urban arboriculture field.
Enhancing Biodiversity
The bill helps address the critical loss of biodiversity by prioritizing the use of native trees, which are essential to reversing the rapid decline in insects, birds, and other species in the Commonwealth.