Urban Forest

Pensacola has had a vibrant Urban Forest and has maintained the Arbor Day Foundation Tree City USA designation for over 30 years. We keep this designation not only because we have a beautiful historic urban forest but because we value the benefits provided by trees. Therefore, we dedicate portions of the general fund to maintaining the urban forest. We also have strict Land Development Codes that protect trees and require developments to mitigate tree loss. This ensures that we sustain a beautiful urban forest for today and invest in a healthy urban forest for the future. 

Benefits of Urban Forest

There are many benefits to having a healthy urban forest within our community. Everything from aesthetic value to financial and environmental value and even fighting Climate Change. The USFS has an excellent paper covering the many benefits urban forests have that can be found here.  

Urban Forest Management

The City of Pensacola has long strived to track and maintain the City’s Urban Forest and Canopy coverage. As a result, we have updated our Canopy Assessment, and the City finished the first Tree Inventory on all City-owned Trees in January of 2023. The Canopy Assessment shows where tree loss has been the most prominent and where we should focus our planting efforts. In addition, the Tree Inventory gives the City a comprehensive assessment of City-owned Trees' health, location, and size. Furthermore, it will help us develop a management plan to ensure tree health is maintained at a high level.