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Why Are Trees Important?

Trees are vital in every setting because they take in carbon dioxide while releasing oxygen. They act as air purifiers to provide for healthier environments, so that humans can breathe fresh air. Moreover, trees are especially crucial in urban settings where concentrations of carbon dioxide are increased due to factories and cars. Planted trees provide a city some resilience against climate change due to their ‘air purifying’ qualities. Aside from the health benefits trees provide humans, trees are beautiful. They create green spaces, and, on any day, birds and insects flock to trees, allowing for some aspects of the wilderness to be brought to cities.

What We Advocate For

We advocate for a robust, connected urban tree canopy to the benefit of all residents:
  • Our existing trees maintained and protected, no matter on private or public property
  • Our existing public empty tree wells filled
  • A robust "back of the sidewalk" program
  • A  commitment to native species and biodiversity
  • Equitable distribution of trees across the city

How to Get Connected

Join the Tree Advocate Group

Join the Tree Facebook Group

 
Cambridge Trees!
Facebook Group · 264 members
Join Group
The Facebook Group of the Green Cambridge Tree Advocate Group.
 

Join an Advocate Group meeting

The Cambridge Tree Advocate Group meets the third Wednesday of every month from 6-7:30 pm at the Eastern Bank (1 Brattle Square, Cambridge, MA 02138).

​Green Cambridge launched the Cambridge Trees Advisory Committee in the spring of 2016 to take a long hard look at how to best reforest Cambridge. Currently our primary asks are to water the trees in this historic drought, and to set up a task force to formulate a plan for saving and growing our urban tree canopy.

Recent Advocacy

The Tree Canopy Project

An i-Tree project that maps Cambridge’s tree canopy to understand its health.​

The Tree Task Force

The Tree Task Force is a group that works to protect the urban tree canopy.

Big, old trees in Cambridge

Heritage Trees are specimens that are of exceptional size, form, or rarity. They could also be historic, considered landmarks in their neighborhoods, or are part of a collection of in a notable grove, avenue, or other planting. We have several examples of heritage trees in Cambridge -- the Memorial Drive Sycamores being some of our finest.

We're working to bring a heritage tree program to Cambridge so that we can celebrate these historic pieces of the landscape. While many of these trees live on private property, several are also street trees. We've mapped the 200 largest street trees using the publicly available data (some of which unfortunately is inaccurate) that can give us a glimpse into this beautiful side of city that connects us to previous generations.
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Top image photo credit: Chuck Hinds