South LA needs more tree cover, but residents say it’s more complicated than just planting them

It’s no secret that South L.A., like many parts of the city, faces a major equity issue when it comes to tree coverage. Roughly 13% of South L.A. is covered by a tree canopy compared to 23% across the rest of the city, contributing to higher temperatures, more air pollution, and reduced shade, among a host of other health and safety concerns.

While the data are important to understanding the disparity, a new study from researchers at the University of Southern California tackles the issue through a different lens, compiling interviews with stakeholders and community members in South L.A. about what they would like to see as trees are planted in the area.

“What we were really interested in is sort of coming to the table and just sort of asking people really open ended questions,” said USC urban planning professor and lead researcher Santina Contreras. “What are your needs? What are your interests? What are your priorities? What sort of challenges have you faced? What are your recommendations moving forward?”

Not as simple as just planting trees

As the saying goes, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” But when trees go into the ground without proper planning, issues like sidewalk upkeep, pruning, watering, and planting of invasive species can flare up.

That’s why Contreras said the aim of the study was “shifting the conversation a bit away from just ‘trees are good,’ and leaving it at that, and having a more detailed conversation about what's that going to involve.”

Residents brought up concerns regarding limited resources available for tree planting and maintenance, especially since South L.A. has historically been under-resourced in many aspects of city planning.

“We heard lots of stories about, ‘Yes, I would like them, but, am I going to be responsible for them? Who's going to water it? You know, what's the long term plan for maintenance?’” Contreras said.

Trees’ thorny association with other issues

Trees were obviously the focus of the researchers’ questions, but respondents also mentioned a host of other issues facing South L.A. Researchers then followed up on the concerns as they were mentioned.

“That's part of what's embedded in doing a really rigorous qualitative study is sort of seeing unprompted that these are things that lots of different people bring up,” Contreras said.

Rising rents and displacement in South L.A. neighborhoods were two of the issues that respondents brought up in conjunction with tree planting.

“I've also heard [people] say, ‘When we see white people coming in and planting trees, we know the rents are going up,’” said one participant quoted in the USC study. “So trees, on some level, represent gentrification, and gentrification means that they are going to have to leave.”

Money doesn’t grow on trees

Another common refrain had to do with allocation of resources to South L.A. neighborhoods overall, especially as funding and resources in the predominantly low-income region are already stretched thin.

“We have some quotes from folks that are talking about [how] trees are a value, but also, what does that mean in terms of getting access to housing and health care and all these other sorts of issues?” Contreras said.

Need for trees

Respondents also highlighted the benefits of sufficient tree cover, including more water capture, improvements in mental health, opportunities for connections with neighbors, and of course, the physical health benefits and cooling effects that more trees could bring to the urban canopy.

“That's something that I think is hopefully an important takeaway from this, really thinking about the holistic piece of how tree planting fits into planning more broadly for communities,” Contreras said.

Many of the study’s takeaways highlighted the desire for providing more sustainable tree canopy, including issues that may be familiar to tree planters anywhere.

“There's a strong interest in making sure that we have native species to California, as the people are very aware of all the different types of problems that we face from an environmental standpoint,” Contreras said.

While planting too much of one sort of tree isn’t ideal for biodiversity, researchers also highlighted the positive effects it can have on neighborhood identity and sense of place.

“People can say, ‘Hey, we're the [neighborhood of] yellow trumpet trees! We're the neighborhood of all the Hong Kong orchid trees!’” one survey respondent said. “It is beautiful. You look down a certain street, and you see all the jacarandas [that] bloom at the same time. You're like, ‘Oh, wow, what harmony!’"”

The researchers stopped short of making any specific policy recommendations — especially as South L.A. is made of diverse neighborhoods that may need different approaches — but they do plan to present the findings to local planners and officials in order to underline the concerns of South L.A. residents and start a dialog about best practices when it comes to planting more trees.

“It's a little more arduous, but it's more beneficial if you actually outreach and directly engage elements of the community in the tree planning, rather than having a top-down [process where] the city of Los Angeles comes through and plants trees…because you don't get the buy-in,” said another community member quoted in the report. “And you don't get the true benefit of using the trees to connect communities to make stronger, better communities.”