Our trees and green spaces are essential to life in New York City.

Our urban forest totals over 5 million trees and 168 species.  It can be found throughout the city along streets and highways, in neighborhood playgrounds, backyards and, community gardens, and even along commercial developments. There are 6,000 acres of woodlands in parks alone!

Trees in such a dense urban environment mean two things: people can directly benefit from them in their day-to-day lives (shade and cleaner air), but also trees must contend with a host of challenges that all city-dwellers face:

Competition for open space in the City is fierce, as residential and commercial developments reduce existing and potential tree habitat. Between 1984 and 2002 alone, New York City lost 9,000 acres of green open space to competing land uses.

Environmental and physical factors challenge street, yard, and woodland trees throughout the City. Construction damage, invasive species, soil compaction and degradation, drought, flooding, air pollution, vandalism, and pests, such as the Asian longhorned beetle, all impact the urban forest.

Population growth, means rising CO₂ emissions and other air and water pollutants, urban density and new construction, and vehicle and foot traffic. All of these factors will impact the health of our urban forest.

But with the awareness and engagement of all New York City residents these trees can overcome their difficult growing conditions to provide the most benefit possible to all New Yorkers.

MillionTreesNYC will bring thousands of trees to streets, parks, and forests throughout the City.  In addition to adding trees to the urban forest, MillionTreesNYC will raise the profile of trees to the general public so all New Yorkers not only benefit but also contribute.  Together, we can create a greener, greater NYC.