Improving Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) to Enhance South Florida’s Environment

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2013

According to a 2008 University of Florida survey, trees are shading only 11% of Miami-Dade County, whereas an average tree canopy cover for American cities is 25%-33%. The benefits of trees in the urban environment are truly significant, including absorbing CO2, producing clean air, providing shade, and improving the quality of life of residents. Insufficient tree cover and the presence of impervious layers of asphalt and concrete significantly contributes to warming of the urban environment creating the urban “heat island effect”. Due to the drastically low urban tree canopy (UTC) in the County, Miami-Dade County Cooperative Extension Service (Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources) collaborated with Florida Forest Service and the City of Miami Downtown Development Authority (MDDA) to develop a pilot educational training program to enhance arboricultural practices of the ground maintenance personnel taking care of trees in the urban environment. The ultimate goal of this program is to improve the professionalism of the ground maintenance workforces from the Cities of Miami, Sweetwater, Miami Gardens, Doral, North-Miami, and Biscayne-Park located in Miami-Dade County, FL. The long term goal is to improve tree health in the county. This pilot educational program was fully implemented in 2012 and it will be continued and expanded in 2013-2014.