Trees are some of the most important tools for cooling down urban areas and keeping them healthy. Recognizing that, cities like Miami make major investments toward planting trees.
In 2018, the city of Miami’s Public Works department began an urban forestry program that’s planted more than 9,000 trees in seven years. And they’re planting more.
"We’ve already this year planted over 500, so I think this year will our number will probably be higher than last year," said Juvenal Santana, the director of public works for the city of Miami. "I think we did about 1,300 last year."
Santana says his department relies on urban heat maps and tree canopy assessments to determine where to plant more trees. Neighborhoods with less tree cover tend to get hotter, which can cause health issues for residents.
Public Works has picked out which neighborhoods they’ll be planting trees in this year.
According to Santana, the first three tree planting projects will be in Liberty City, Lemon City and Flagami.
Tree planting is expected to start when the dry season ends this spring.
READ MORE: Miami-Dade's first urban forestry plan puts trees at the center of battle against heat
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