By Tennyson Donyéa, WHYY News
Jay Watson says you can tell the quality of a neighborhood just by counting the trees.
“Clean green streets really have a major impact on how people feel about their community and their lives,” Watson said.
The Ewing native is co-executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, a nonprofit organization that recently received more than $1.3 million in state grant funding to plant trees and cultivate green spaces in environmentally overburdened communities (EOCs) in Trenton.
The money is provided by the Natural Climate Solutions grant program funded by “Treasure Our Trees” license plate sales and New Jersey Forest Service No Net Loss Compensatory Reforestation Program. Watson said his organization will collaborate with the city to plant hundreds of oak, red maple, ginkgo, and sycamore trees at a corridor along East State Street and nearby parks.
According to experts, tree canopies have a myriad of physical and mental health benefits. Canopies also reduce urban heat by providing shade and absorbing harmful greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide. Watson argues that neighborhoods lacking canopies tend to experience more quality-of-life-related issues including a disproportionate amount of crime.
“Data shows that a 10% increase in tree canopies on the street reduces crime by 12%,” Watson said.
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