After four years of effort and with the help of over 300 volunteers and interns, The Greater Boston Urban Forest Street Tree Inventory was completed this August. GBUFI is based on GIS, a computer mapping program we used to show the location of all 35,000 street trees in Boston and to store and manipulate data about the trees health, location, and management needs.

The Boston Parks Department plans to implement GBUFI as a state of the art tool for managing and maintaining Boston’s trees. They will now have access to the location, species, size, and condition of every street tree in Boston.

Last fall the Boston Urban Forest Coalition concluded that 29% of Boston’s land area is covered by tree canopy. We are in the process of identifying which areas are underrepresented in terms of canopy cover and green space, as well as identify potential planting sites so that project partners can focus plantings in areas of critical need.

With the data collected, we are determining the urban forest’s capabilities to sequester carbon, absorb pollutants, and prevent storm water runoff. Taken together, these benefits will help determine a dollar value for the services our trees provide the city every year. Based on the findings from our remote sensing analysis, UEI and the Boston Urban Forest Coalition are working with the city to set a target goal for an increase in canopy cover.

Boston’s Urban Forest Coalition (BUFC) is a coalition of non-profit, city, state, and federal organizations working to transform Boston’s urban forest in order to improve the urban forest ecosystem, public health, and quality of life for Boston’s residents. Partners include the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the USDA Forest Service, Mass GIS, Tufts University, Mapping Sustainability, Boston Green Space Alliance, DotWell, UMass Extension Communities, Families and Youth Program and the Boston 4-H Urban Stewards, and the Urban Ecology Institute.