"Equity through Urban Forestry" is a comprehensive urban forestry initiative focused on advancing environmental justice in Oakland’s underserved communities. The project will expand and preserve tree canopy by planting 1,300 trees, maintaining thousands of existing street and park trees, and addressing decades of deferred tree care in neighborhoods with some of the city’s lowest canopy coverage. Through community partnerships, public outreach, and workforce development, the project aims to reduce climate inequities such as urban heat and air pollution while creating greener, healthier, and more resilient neighborhoods for Oakland residents. This project is funded by an Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) grant through the U.S. Forest Service.
Project Scope and Maps
Tree Pruning: Visit the OakDOT Geographic Equity Toolbox to see the Highest Priority census tracts (darkest purple) where contractors will be pruning approximately 9,000 street and park trees. The City is in contract with West Coast Arborists, Inc., to perform this work. Pruning began in March 2026.
Tree planting: Planting activities are organized by two non-profit partners, Oakland Parks & Recreation Foundation and Common Vision. These organizations will be planting 1,300 trees in schools, parks, private property, and streets in census tracts identified as "disadvantaged" on the federal CJEST map. This work began in late 2025.