Arbor Day RVA is a citywide celebration of trees and of course all of the amazing things that come from having a healthy community and urban forests. We celebrate each October because fall is the best time to plant trees in this growing region. To understand what we're doing now, I have to tell you how Arbor Day RVA started in 2020. This is a big shout out to my friend, colleague and amazing tree champion Daniel Klein. Daniel started Reforest Richmond, which is a collaborative campaign to increase Richmond’s urban tree canopy to 60% by 2037. We are committed, not only to increasing citywide tree canopy, but also in dismantling systemic racism and environmental injustice through an evolving, equity-centered, community-driven effort. Rebuilding canopy is impossible without rebuilding trust.In 2020, Daniel Klein received an offer of 12,000 Redbud Seedlings from Dominion Energy. Every year Dominion does “Project Plant It” and gives away a bunch of seedlings to elementary school kids. Because of the pandemic, school was not in session in 2020. But they still had all of these Redbud seedlings on order from the Arbor Day Foundation. Someone reached out to Daniel Klein, knowing that he is a major tree guy, to see if he could help. And that desire to ensure the seedlings were planted led to the creation of Arbor Day RVA. Daniel brought in the Richmond ToolBank and some other organizations and we made it into a citywide celebration of trees and engagement with all of the local environmental organizations. Chesapeake Bay Foundation, our own James River Association, Capital Trees, Urban Forestry and multiple other organizations that have an interest in caring for and expanding our urban forest. The premise was really just to engage folks in tree giveaways and tree planting events.

So that's how Arbor Day RVA started in 2020. Last year was the second year for Arbor Day RVA and we scaled it down and focused more on planting. This year, we're focusing on a lot of planting and a lot of education. It will run from October 15th to October 23rd. You can find the 24 different events happening around the city during that time frame at www.reforestrichmond.org The Richmond ToolBank is focused on helping the whole Reforest Richmond umbrella achieve a goal of planting and giving away a thousand trees. We are really focused on planting trees because there's a ton of benefits that trees give, but the focus is also on planting the trees that we can ensure the maintenance of. It doesn't do any good to plant a trillion trees if most of them are not gonna live or if they're ultimately gonna end up becoming carbon that goes back into the atmosphere. We're focused on planting trees, giving away some trees to homeowners doing some educational activities, and that's gonna be a whole week of fun events.

There's still a little bit of mystery around what a community forest is and what the value of having a thriving diverse community forest, an urban forest, here in Richmond is all about. There is a magnificent body of research that shows the concentration of heat vulnerable communities and how those heat vulnerable communities are based around old discriminatory, racist housing and development policies from 70 years ago. The education that we focus on is a lot about tree equity, green space equity, hopefully igniting some passion, but also tapping into the desire that already exists in so many people to do things like plant and care for trees. The education that we are focusing on is around urban heat, island tree equity, proper planting care and maintenance of trees. We are also partnering with the division of urban forestry to lead two important programs. One is a citizen science program that collects the data of our urban forest tree inventory. And the second is a volunteer powered program that waters the trees that are planted around the city. There's a lot of community service and civic engagement that can be done around urban and community forests in order to bring greater equity to the urban forest, not just for the short term, but for the long term, hopefully cultivating a new generation of tree loving and tree inspired people.

Arbor Day RVA is also a signal boost for anybody who wants to hold an event. So you can either join an existing event by looking at the listings and seeing what appeals or you can also just reach out to us and we will help to boost your own event. On October 15th for example, we will be planting 175 or 250 or so trees at Forest Hill Park and you can sign up to volunteer with us there. Other organizations will be having tree giveaways and tree planting projects as well so lots of options! And because we've been doing these environmental projects for a few years, we have some sponsorship dollars that has allowed us to waive all of the tool handling and borrowing fees for all of the ABER Day projects. So everyone who's planting trees or who's holding an event can borrow tools through the Richmond ToolBank and they're all sponsored. All those fees are waived for Arbor Day RVA. Trees are such a fun and easy way to get involved at a deeper level with environmental justice, environmental equity. I invite everyone to join us in a community effort to bring greater equity to Richmond's urban canopy!