Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF) is a
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
based in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
that plants and maintains trees within the city of San Francisco and its surroundings.
FUF was organized as a response to San Francisco's lack of trees. The group's first tree planted was a
glossy privet on
Arbor Day
Arbor Day (or Arbour in some countries) is a secular day of observance in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant trees. Today, many countries observe such a holiday. Though usually observed in the spring, the date varies, dependi ...
, 1981, in
Noe Valley.
As of 2006, the organization had planted approximately 40,000 trees.
[
]
Background
San Francisco was originally mostly sand dunes and had only a small population of native trees. Fog, wind, cold weather, and salty air made it difficult for native and planted trees to survive. Only buckeye and Pacific willow were common.
Most of the 90,000 trees in the city were planted in the 1880s through 1920s as part of large parks and properties. Monterey Pine
''Pinus radiata'' ( syn. ''Pinus insignis''), the Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California and Mexico ( Guadalupe Island and Cedros island). It is an evergreen conifer in the f ...
s and Eucalyptus tree
''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of Flowering plant, flowering trees, shrubs or Mallee (habit), mallees in the Myrtaceae, myrtle Family (biology), family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the Tribe (biology) ...
s were planted in the San Francisco Presidio, Stern Grove, and Golden Gate Park.
Importance
At 12%, San Francisco's tree canopy cover remains considerably under the 22% national average. Benefits to planting more trees include aesthetics, improved property values (mature trees are said to increase surrounding property values by approximately 1%),global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
by absorbing carbon dioxide and providing oxygen, and energy savings due to increased tree canopy
In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant cropping or crop, formed by the collection of individual plant crowns.
In forest ecology, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns an ...
.
Even at more than 5,000 trees per year as of 2006, San Francisco's tree-planting efforts were modest compared to other cities in California and throughout the world. That year Los Angeles announced plans to plant one million trees, and the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
had raised funds to plant 121 million trees towards a goal of one billion trees. [
]
See also
* Andy Lipkis
TreePeople is an educational and training environmental advocacy organization based in Los Angeles, California. The TreePeople organization advocates and works to support a sustainable urban ecosystems in the Greater Los Angeles area through e ...
References
External links
Official site
Organizations based in San Francisco
Urban forestry organizations
Environmental organizations based in the San Francisco Bay Area
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