A Celebration of the Urban Forest  

Sustainable Development Goals and Seattle Forest Week

The City of Seattle’s urban forests are not only a beautiful part of our City but also play a crucial role in combating the impacts of climate change.

To celebrate and protect this vital resource for our City, Seattle Forest Week returns this year from October 28 to November 4, 2023. The citywide initiative is supported by the Green Seattle Partnership, a collaboration between the City of Seattle, community groups and non-profits, businesses, schools, and thousands of volunteers working together to restore and actively maintain the City’s forested parklands and offers a way to invest in the health of the urban landscape and celebrate Seattle’s trees.

This year marks the third annual Seattle Forest Week, and there are plenty of opportunities to get involved with events hosted by partner organizations like Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, Serve Ethiopians Washington, Environmental Coalition of South Seattle (ECOSS), Sea Potential, and Tilth Alliance.

You can learn more about Seattle Forest Week, find a list of events, and get involved on the Green Seattle Partnership Website.

Mayor Harrell Kicks Off Seattle Forest Week at Jefferson Park

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, City Staff, and volunteers came together at Jefferson Park on Saturday, October 28, to plant trees in the park and along the right away as a part of Seattle Forest Week.

It’s Been a Big Year for Seattle’s Urban Forest!

Seattle’s recent Canopy Cover Assessment showed Seattle lost 255 acres of canopy between 2016 and 2021. The report found that not only do higher disadvantaged areas have less canopy cover, but they are also losing canopy at a faster rate.

Part of the work to invest in these areas will be supported by the City’s recently awarded $12.9 million by the U.S. Forest Service to plant trees, create green careers for young people, and restore forested places near schools, parks, and low-income housing. The grant will build on the long history of the Green Seattle Partnership to restore forested parklands, which are threatened by invasive species and the challenges of climate change.

Earlier this year, Seattle was among the first Washington cities to sign onto a new statewide tree equity collaborative and pledged to plant more than 8,000 trees over the next five years on public and private properties and 40,000 trees in parks and natural areas. Mayor Harrell also issued the One Seattle Tree Plan Executive Order in April, directing City Departments to accelerate efforts to expand tree canopy on public land and updated the City’s Tree Ordinance to increase tree protections and provide for more equitable distribution of tree canopy.

Also bolstering these efforts are Mayor Harrell’s 2024 proposed budget that includes funding to expand the Trees for Neighborhoods program to 1,300 trees planted in 2024 and evaluate siting a One Seattle Tree Nursery to grow trees locally.

And most recently, the United Nations Environment Program selected the City of Seattle to participate in Generation Restoration, a collaborative initiative of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Seattle, which will be a “role model city,” joins 18 other cities around the world seeking to share best practices to advance urban habitat. Seattle is the only city in the United States participating.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. SDG 13: Climate Action

   • Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters
   • Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning
   • Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning
   • Target 13.a: Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible
   • Target 13.b: Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth, and local and marginalized communities

   The article discusses the City of Seattle’s efforts to combat the impacts of climate change through tree planting and improving tree canopy. This aligns with SDG 13, which focuses on climate action. The targets under SDG 13 that can be identified based on the article’s content include strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards (Target 13.1), integrating climate change measures into policies and planning (Target 13.2), and improving education and awareness on climate change (Target 13.3).

2. SDG 15: Life on Land

   • Target 15.1: Ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains, and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements
   • Target 15.2: Promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests, and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally
   • Target 15.3: Combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought, and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world
   • Target 15.9: By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies, and accounts
   • Target 15.a: Mobilize and significantly increase financial resources from all sources to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ecosystems
   • Target 15.b: Mobilize significant resources from all sources and at all levels to finance sustainable forest management and provide adequate incentives to developing countries to advance such management, including for conservation and reforestation

   The article highlights Seattle’s initiatives to plant trees, restore forested parklands, and improve tree equity. These efforts align with SDG 15, which focuses on life on land. The targets under SDG 15 that can be identified based on the article’s content include promoting sustainable management of forests (Target 15.2), restoring degraded land (Target 15.3), integrating ecosystem values into planning processes (Target 15.9), and mobilizing financial resources for conservation and sustainable forest management (Targets 15.a and 15.b).

Behold! This splendid article springs forth from the wellspring of knowledge, shaped by a wondrous proprietary AI technology that delved into a vast ocean of data, illuminating the path towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Remember that all rights are reserved by SDG Investors LLC, empowering us to champion progress together.

Source: greenspace.seattle.gov

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