LA Times Today: How Micro Forests Combat Climate Change in LA
California’s latest climate assessment projects that heatwaves will become more intense, last longer and will happen more frequently in the years ahead.
From 1980 to 2000, there were an average of six annual extreme heat days in Los Angeles. By 2050, that number is predicted to increase to 22 days. This is just one of the many reasons the LA Parks Foundation recently launched the Park Forest Initiative.
It is aimed at installing micro forests throughout Los Angeles to combat the urban heat island effect, close the climate gap, and grow our urban canopy.
At a recent planting at Harbor Regional Park, crews planted 12 trees. Tree Surgeon Supervisor Leon Boroditsky explained how the trees will benefit the space.
“We have a large exercise area inside Harbor Regional Park. We would like to bring shade to the people using the equipment. Also, there are walkways that go through. We like to shade the walkways. That’s really important,” Boroditsky said.
Carolyn Ramsay, the executive director of the LA Parks Foundation, talked about the long-term goals the organization has for the micro forest program.
“We’ve installed eight forests in the first year and our goal is to plant 10 forests a year for the next 10 years. We actually stole the idea from Paris. They launched a micro forest initiative a few years ago, and I read about it and instantly vacuumed up all the information I could get on it. Then, we created and adapted our LA Park Forest Initiative to LA city parks,” Ramsay said.
Climate change was the key motivator for the initiative.