The City of Seattle released the final 2021 Tree Canopy Assessment Wednesday showing the city has lost 255 acres of tree canopy since 2016. This is a 1.7% relative decline in the amount of tree coverage around the city, roughly the size of Green Lake.
“Our vision for the urban forest is a Seattle where everyone—starting with those most harmed by current and existing racial inequities—has access to trees and the benefits they provide and where we keep our trees and forest healthy and thriving in the face of a changing climate,” the report read.
Part of the impact of the loss of foliage includes the fact that neighborhoods impacted by racial and economic injustice started with less canopy and lost more than the citywide average. Less economically wealthy neighborhoods, and also more racially diverse ones, had 31% less canopy in 2021, an increase in disparity from 2016 .
Of the canopy lost, nearly 43% of it was from city parks, despite parks making up only 5% of the city’s land usage. These areas require active management to ensure long-term forest health and resilience, and losses here may be due to aging deciduous trees coming down naturally or being selectively removed to allow for the growth of evergreen trees.
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