Campaign to increase urban tree canopy well under way

South Florida’s season of heat (May 1-Oct. 31) blasted in with record temperatures in the 90s and a May 7 county tree giveaway at William H. Turner Technical High School, located at 10151 NW 19th Ave.

About 80 people gathered under the shade of a gumbo limbo tree as the county gave away 200 longan fruit trees as a full court of county and school officials blessed the proceedings, with audience participation from members of Miami PACT (People Acting for Community Together). The interfaith group is pushing for a dramatic increase in tree canopies; lack of such vegetation hits less-affluent neighborhoods the hardest and accelerates heating, often making them 10 degrees hotter than shadier areas.

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Miami Times

The May 7 event was a buildup to the more expansive Adopt-a-Tree giveaway happening June 12 at Miami Dade College’s North Campus on NW 27th Avenue south of 119th Street. Among those on hand were District 2 County Commissioner Jean Monestime, Miami-Dade’s chief operating officer Jimmy Morales, chief heat officer Jane Gilbert, resilience officer Jim Murley, Turner Tech principal Ewezo B. Frazier, founding Turner Tech teacher Everal Miller and county environmental resources supervisor James Duncan, who coordinated much of the event.

Last April, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava appointed Gilbert, former resilience director for the city of Miami, the world’s first chief heat officer. Dense development and lack of tree canopy accelerates Miami’s status as an urban heat island, hitting less privileged areas particularly hard as the region copes with dramatically higher extreme heat. Ninety-degrees-plus days have steadily increased, from 84 in 1970 to 133 in 2021.

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Campaign to increase urban tree canopy well under way

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