More Trees, Please

Rich Criley (TPSS) participated in the Trees for Honolulu’s Future workshop on March 9 by showing the series of Extension publications he has written called Expanding Tree Diversity in Hawai‘i’s Landscapes. They provide alternatives for landscapers and home growers to the most commonly used trees, instead suggesting attractive and practical but less-used varieties for different landscaping niches, such as street trees, windbreaks, coastal areas, and more. The gathering, at the Ala Wai Palladium, brought together planners, landscapers, arborists, grounds managers, City & State policymakers, and UH researchers to develop a program to increase urban Honolulu’s green canopy by planting more trees. Participants heard from Mayor Kirk Caldwell, who called for the planting of 100,000 trees by 2025, and from keynote speaker Ian Shears of Melbourne Urban Forestry, who highlighted the progress made in increasing Melbourne’s green canopies over the past two decades. The organizers of the Honolulu program hope to improve the city’s canopy coverage from its current 25 percent to 35 percent by 2035.