MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Sylvamo partnered with Arbor Day Foundation (ADF) throughout 2023 to help local environmental partner, Casey Trees, activate community outreach by connecting trees, environmental justice and education to address a critical community need in the 7th and 8th wards of Washington, D.C.
Home to a predominantly Black population where an average 30% of residents live below the poverty line and face food insecurity, these areas have below-average tree canopy coverage, which can be correlated to the racial makeup of D.C.’s wards.
Unlocking the power of trees to focus on people and the planet allows residents to breathe cleaner air, foster healthier homes and reduce the risk of heat-related illness by acting as nature’s cooling system to shade the ground and lower surface temperature.
“The Arbor Day Foundation and Sylvamo's support allowed us to invest more time and attention into under-resourced and under-canopied neighborhoods of our city,” said Melinda Peters, Casey Trees, director of education. “With the ultimate goal of working with communities to plant more trees, this support helped us demonstrate our commitment to wards 7 and 8, plus build deeper connections with residents, community groups and our partners.”
The second part of Sylvamo’s support focused on longleaf pine restoration in South Carolina to reduce forest fragmentation, provide a home to endangered wildlife and reduce erosion. Today, the longleaf pine covers less than 3% of its original 90 million acres from when it was the Southern United States’ most dominant tree species.
Since 2022, Sylvamo’s support has helped plant 140,000 critically endangered longleaf pine trees and restore 257 acres, providing the following benefits measured by ADF over a 40-year projection, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service’s Tree Planting Tools:
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Sequester 131,452 metric tons of carbon dioxide
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Avoid 7.4 million gallons of water runoff
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Remove 531 tons of air pollutants
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Support habitat for 30 plant and wildlife species that are threatened or endangered
This collaboration leverages a proven solution — trees and forests — to address climate change, water quality and quantity, biodiversity, human health and environmental inequalities.
