We didn’t just plant trees: we strategized with tree planting organizations and volunteers to make urban greening easier for everyone.
Our tree stewardship coalition brought together over 90 tree planting volunteers and organizations to share resources and develop solutions to grow our urban canopy. We wanted to know why our urban canopy is shrinking–and what we can do about it.
We met between May 2025 and February 2026. We uncovered issues with the City’s permitting process; opportunities to empower volunteers to become community leaders; new tools to engage the public in tree care; and sites where we could convert vacant lots to pocket forests.
After almost a year, we developed an action memo for the City of Oakland with our learnings. The memo contains 25 concrete recommendations to remove barriers to expanding Oakland’s urban forest.
Tree equity: Who gets trees in their neighborhood?
Why are some neighborhoods so much greener than others? Walking around West Oakland, it can sometimes be hard to believe you’re in a town named after the mighty oak. It turns out that neighborhoods that were historically redlined in the ‘30s and ‘40s live today with only half the tree cover of their “greenlined” neighborhood counterparts. We teamed up with partner organizations to restore the joy, safety, and accessibility that trees bring.
We planted trees across West Oakland
In 2024, we began reaching out to our neighbors to let them know about an opportunity to get free trees through the CARB-funded West Oakland Sustainable Transportation Equity Project. Working with the Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation, Hyphae Design Labs, and the City of Oakland, we recruited over 300 of our neighbors to get their own free trees.
After evaluating sites for compliance with City codes and applying for permits, our partners were able to plant 157 trees.
Questions about our project or a pending tree request? Reach out to us at trees@woeip.org.
Want your own free tree?
How about volunteering with your neighbors to take care of trees? Our friends at Common Vision are now leading the charge. Get started by filling out their form.
In partnership with:
This work is made possible with funding from:
This work was made possible through a Sustainable Transportation Equity Project (STEP) grant funded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The West Oakland STEP grant aimed to improve transportation equity in West Oakland by centering the community’s lived knowledge and expertise in transportation projects. STEP is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Invest dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment — particularly in disadvantaged communities.