Planting Environmental Justice – New Jersey Tree Foundation

The New Jersey Tree Foundation has worked with residents to plant trees in disadvantaged communities throughout New Jersey since 1998 and has provided paid green jobs training for men under parole supervision since 2006. With funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Urban & Community Forestry Program, we launched Planting Environmental Justice One Tree at a Time in early 2024. This initiative will allow us to expand partnerships with residents of economically and environmentally vulnerable communities across the state to continue our mission and apply our proven methods of community-driven urban forestry to reach the people and places that need it most.

"We believe the next five years are critical to bolstering the state’s environmental resilience in the face of climate change."

While Planting Environmental Justice One Tree at a Time includes many new initiatives, the NJ Tree Foundation seeks to answer growing demand for resident initiated tree plantings in the cities we currently serve through our Urban Airshed Reforestation program and Renaissance Trees program. However, our work has never been limited to our core cities of Camden and Newark, and we aim to continue to spur grassroots, resident-led tree planting projects in many of New Jersey’s other neighborhoods with low tree canopy.

Here’s what we will accomplish by 2029:

Plant 2,600 trees by local residents.
Provide paid apprenticeships in urban forestry through our Tree Stewards Program.
Select a third Community-Based Tree Planting Program (in addition to the Urban Airshed Reforestation Program and Renaissance Trees Program) to expand the work of the New Jersey Tree Foundation.
Conduct Tree Giveaway events in Camden, Newark and Trenton.

Expand our service offerings to include watering and maintenance work.
Expand from seasonal to year-round work.
Increase the number of program participants per year.

Expand our TreeKeepers training program into more cities across New Jersey.
Provide workshops and trainings to schools and community groups in the cities we serve utilizing Project Learning Tree and teaching students to utilize the i-Tree tool. The goal is to encourage learners to apply these skills in stewardship to their community.
Host an annual Urban Forestry Academy to address the needs of our Tree Steward apprentices, partner organizations and volunteers.

Launch a podcast to lift the voices of the community- giving a platform to connect people to the resources necessary to become tree planters and create awareness of urban forestry.
An updated website with additional resource content including the menu of Tree Steward employment opportunities, the expansion into new cities within our Community Based Tree Planting programs, free maintenance programs available through our Green Streets re-entry program and Education program opportunities through the development of our Urban Forestry Academy, TreeKeepers, school programming and conference scholarships.

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Planting Environmental Justice One Tree at a Time (2024-2029)

Here’s what we will accomplish by 2029:

Community-Based Tree Planting Programs

Green Streets

Education Outreach

Communications

Scholarships

Community Tree Stewards