Climate Action Now!,
San Francisco, California
With the highest urban pollution rates in San Francisco, the Bayview neighborhood has historically experienced longstanding industrial pollution, red-lining, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, saw higher unemployment rates. Because of these many challenges, Climate Action Now! (CAN!) a nonprofit environmental education and ecological restoration organization based in San Francisco chose this neighborhood for its Treecovery Project.
Treecovery grant funding allowed CAN! to invest in Bayview’s community and green infrastructure. Their primary goal was to grow a new “ecological corridor” cared for by Bayview community members and partner organizations. CAN! and their partners removed concrete and planted trees and community gardens along sidewalks and within schoolyards to mitigate pollution and to support public health.
To launch this project, CAN! partnered with the City of San Francisco, Charles Dew Elementary, and Mission Science Workshop—a bilingual science center that provides inspiring hands-on education programs. CAN! engaged many new volunteers through outreach at Charles Dew Elementary and coordinated educational programming with youth during school hours and weekend community work days with Mission Science Workshop staff and volunteers. Hundreds of students, dozens of families, and neighbors surrounding the school participated in community work days, planting trees surrounding the school campus, in the schoolyard, and along city streets. With the City’s partnership, street tree wells on the sidewalks surrounding the school were expanded, improving basins for tree and garden habitats.
Despite the challenges of vandalism while working along Bayview city streets, CAN! has planted over 88 trees to grow Bayview’s “ecological corridors.” This project has helped expand the Bayview tree canopy to not only help with air pollution but also to build biodiversity, capture carbon, and bring green spaces to a community that has historically been underserved and is working to build back stronger after the pandemic. Treecovery Grantee Story: Climate Action Now!
Learn more about Climate Action Now! by visiting their website: http://climateactionnowcalifornia.org/
Climate Action Now! volunteers planting street trees adjacent to Charles Dew Elementary.
California ReLeaf’s Treecovery Grant was funded through California Climate Investments and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), Urban and Community Forestry Program.
