NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The Big Easy is greener due to a recent citywide tree planting project.
New Orleans city leaders headed to Algiers on Thursday, May 18 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of 1,165 newly planted trees. The project features a mixture of 26 different tree species like oak, crape myrtles, magnolias, bald cypresses, Mexican fan palms and swamp maple trees.
The project began in December 2022 and was financed through an investment of $975,000 in City Bond funding. The Department of Parks and Parkways designed the plantings and managed the installations.
The mixture of species will diversify the city’s tree canopy as well as repopulate areas suffering from recent tree loss. According to data from Citywide Tree Inventory and the department’s field data, areas that suffered from Hurricane Ida, the unseasonable hot and dry weather during 2021 and 2022 and vehicular damages served as the desired selected locations.
The city expects the project to combat the effects of climate change by providing stormwater management, urban heat island reduction and carbon sequestration.
Project leaders also expect the trees to help boost the quality of life for residents by providing green spaces and public right of ways.
“After working to get trees planted along Tulane Avenue while I was a city councilwoman, it makes me smile to see these trees today around our beautiful city. Parkways has set a goal to diversify our urban tree canopy, with the goal of planting 40,000 trees as we head into the next decade. This is all part of our focus on our climate strategy, making our city more resilient and sustainable,” said New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell.
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