Trees in the City
- Planting 180 pine, linden, birch, maple and ashberry trees to reclaim a dumpsite
- Engaging 60 students and volunteers as tree stewards
- Improving quality of life for city residents
Working alongside Samara’s Training Center for Ecology and Safety, Alcoa Foundation and American Forests are planting 180 trees in the city to convert denuded greenspaces and a garbage dump site into green oases.
Why This Project:
Samara is Russia’s sixth largest city and a major industrial and transportation hub. Over the years, the city’s greenspaces have degraded due to development and other practices.
This project is focusing on an area in the Kirovskiy District that has served as the local household waste dump for the last 10 years. With the help of teachers, students, parents and other volunteers, the project is reclaiming this land as a greenspace for recreation, wildlife and overall beautification. These same students and volunteers are also taking responsibility for the continued maintenance and care of the newly planted trees.
Why Trees in a City:
Trees and greenspaces in urban areas, or urban forests, offer myriad benefits to city residents. Beyond the standard benefits that trees provide, such as cleaning pollutants from the air and filtering water, urban forests have been shown to reduce stress levels and energy demand, improve health and property values and contribute to an overall increased quality of life.
Interested in the other Russia reforestation projects in which we’ve been involved? Check out our Russia Global ReLeaf projects.