PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 100.1 FM and 1020 KDKA) – Pittsburgh has been selected as one of four cities that will receive a "Reforestation Hub" assessment, which will develop of "an innovative pilot project geared toward improving resource efficiency and carbon capture at the municipal level."
Cities lose an average of 36 million trees every year due to things like disease, age, and development. Pittsburgh's canopy loss, which is currently estimated at 36% with a loss of 6.2% between 2010 and 2015, is contributed to development pressure, pests, invasive species, disease, lack of maintenance, capacity, and funding.
The hub will find ways to upcycle removed trees with generating revenue to support planting trees and maintenance.
"City governments need to find new sources of funding to recover from the pandemic and providing healthy, accessible outdoor open spaces has proven critically important for the health of our residents over the last nine months," said Mayor Peduto. "The City of Pittsburgh is very excited for this timely opportunity to explore new methods of ecological and financial resilience that seek to enhance our tree canopy and greenspaces to improve resident well-being."
Pittsburgh will work with Cambium Carbon to find ways to reuse wood from fallen trees and access the sale of carbon credits to subsidize restoration of public lands, with the goal to increase tree canopy and improve the health of Pittsburgh's greenways and urban forest.
There are 1,200 acres across 13 sites that make up Pittsburgh's greenways that are in need of restoration.
"Pittsburgh's tree canopy and urban forests provide many benefits, but resources are needed to make all of our greenspaces the community assets they should be," said Lisa Ceoffe, City Forester. "Optimizing the health of some of our unmanaged public properties and increasing tree canopy will create more opportunities for recreation, improve stormwater management, provide shade and cooling in summer months, stabilize our hillsides, sequester carbon and air pollution, and deter dumping."
Pittsburgh joins Denver, Eugene, and New York City to be participating in the Reforestation Hubs program.
"These pilots are step one in building a circular economy for urban forestry," said Marisa Repka, Co-Founder and City Partnerships Lead at Cambium Carbon. "We're excited to work with our city partners to make the case for infrastructure and policy that will improve resource efficiency, create new jobs, and foster community resilience."
