Not by Trees Alone: Centering Community in Urban Forestry

By Lindsay K. Campbell, Erika S. Svendsen, Michelle L. Johnson, Sophie Plitt

This paper provides a review of literature that seeks to address dimensions of equity in urban greening. It then offers three themes and related, guiding questions that can help advance that work:

Supporting human capacity and care (investments in people and organizations)
Community organizing beyond the green silo (intersectional and cross-sectoral approaches)
Reenvisioning the functions of the urban forest (productive systems and biocultural approaches)

This paper makes specific suggestions that the field of urban forestry draw upon a community forestry ethos as we center the needs, capacities, and priorities of historically marginalized communities at the heart of the work of creating more just, sustainable cities.

Journal: Landscape and Urban Planning

In a nutshell, the resource offers:

Information on how urban forestry can both improve communities or exacerbate existing inequities
Explanation of how environmental justice and anti-subordination greening concepts can inform our work
Community forestry approaches that center marginalized communities’ priorities
Ideas on how the field can support capacity, organize with community, and re-envision the forest
Innovations from the field and questions for greening practitioners