By Mara Elana Burstein

In Southern California, cities are recognizing the multiple benefits of planting more trees and making strategic investments, such as producing long-range urban forest management plans for both the City and County of Los Angeles. At the same time, scientists are publishing cutting-edge research, including the Los Angeles Urban Forest Equity Collective’s recent step-by-step, decision-making framework that centers equity in tree planting.

“There’s great energy around urban forest equity these days, but we are not always seeing the intentional cross-pollination that’s needed between researchers and practitioners,” said Edith de Guzman, LCI’s cooperative extension specialist. “Collaboration is critical to ensure that practitioners use the best science and scientists are informed by practice to research relevant issues.”

This is how LCI came to co-host the first-ever forest equity symposium, Urban Forestry for Changing Times: The Practice of Science and the Science of Practice — with more than 170 researchers, practitioners, community members, and representatives from government and nonprofit organizations. In addition to ample time for networking and break-out discussions, the hosts organized (and recorded) the following panels:

• Panel 1- State of the Research: What is rigorous scientific research in urban forestry?
• Panel 2- Science Delivery & Communication: How do decision-makers effectively apply and communicate evidence-based approaches?
• Panel 3- Urban Forest Equity in L.A.: How is Los Angeles advancing urban forest equity research and practice?

With 15 expert speakers and moderators, discussions were lively and well-informed. Among the topics was street trees planted in the public right-of-way, including who maintains them and who should maintain them. In recent years, the City and County of San Francisco passed Proposition E, which made it responsible and liable for maintaining all street trees and repairing sidewalks damaged by trees. Before Prop E’s passage, San Francisco had an inconsistent approach to taking care of street trees. This is still an issue in Los Angeles where the government maintains some trees and (often unaware) property owners are responsible for others.

“One of the things I learned at the symposium was that many myths are unsupported by science (projected global carbon sequestration of urban trees),” said Anne Fege, retired chair of the City of San Diego’s Community Forest Advisory Board. “At the same time, other benefits of urban trees are well supported (shade and urban cooling, places for active living and socializing, habitats for wildlife and pollinators).”

This first symposium demonstrated a large appetite for these intentionally organized discussions. It included interactive breakout sessions to brainstorm how scientific research and practice support better plans, policies, and programs. The co-hosts have shared the proceedings from those discussions with local decision-makers, and are encouraged to organize another symposium in the future.

The symposium was co-hosted by LCI, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Southern California Public Exchange, L.A. Center for Urban Natural Resource Sustainability, U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, U.S. Forest Service Region 5 Urban and Community Forestry Program, L.A. County Chief Sustainability Office, and L.A. Public Works Office of Forest Management.

See photos from the event, check out ABC7’s interview, and visit LCI’s website to learn more about our research on urban forest equity.