Resources related to community and urban forestry and the role that arboreta and botanic gardens can play in community forestry. To contribute a resource to the Community Forestry database, please contact the ArbNet Coordinator at arbnet@mortonarb.org.
Arboretum Accreditation
These toolkits are meant to guide you through the ArbNet accreditation process, the steps to create a new arboretum, or building your arboretum’s capacity to upgrade to a higher level of accreditation.
- City Arboretum Toolkit (ArbNet)
- Cemetery Arboretum Toolkit (ArbNet)
- School Arboretum Toolkit (ArbNet)
- University/College Arboretum Toolkit (ArbNet)
The Role of Arboreta & Public Gardens in Community & Urban Forestry
- ArbNet: 10 years of fostering collaborations, furthering professionalism, and advancing the planting and conservation of trees through the global network of arboreta (Turner-Skoff et al., 2021)
- BGCI Technical Review: The role of botanic gardens in urban greening and conserving urban biodiversity: Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), Report by Nicole Cavender, Paul Smith and Kate Marfleet on the contributions and potential role that botanic gardens and arboreta can play in community forestry.
- 2nd World Forum on Urban Forests - 2023: The Washington D.C. Declaration
- Urban & Community Forestry Presentations: Recorded presentations from the ArbNet Conference 2021 by speakers Cindi Sullivan (TreesLouisville, Inc.), Courtney Blashka (Holden Forests & Gardens), and Jay Wilshire, M. Ed (College of Lake County)
- Intersecting urban forestry and botanical gardens to address big challenges for healthier trees, people, and cities: Journal article published in Plants, People, Planet (PPP) by Nicole Cavender and Gerry Donnelly on the role that botanical gardens and arboreta can play in addressing urban forestry problems and urban tree health.
- What's in an Arboretum?: International Society of Arboriculture article, published in the June 2019 Arborist News (pp. 55-60), written by ArbNet staff on the benefit of arboreta to communities.
- Finding Urban Trees For A Changing World: Exploring Public Garden Contributions to Urban Forestry: American Public Gardens Association (APGA) 2019 Conference Poster from Jehana Samaha and Cecil Konijendijk Van den Bosch (The Univeristy of British Columbia) that considers the role arborists play in community forestry.
- Community Forestry Coffee and Conversation Report: Results of polls taken at the APGA 2019 conference at an ArbNet hosted event where we asked questions about the attendees' involvement in community forestry.
- How a Public Garden is Redefining Outreach in the Urban Forest: Powerpoint presentation from Tower Hill Botanic Garden that describes Worcester Tree Initiative Outreach Program, their successful outreach and partnership program to bring horticulture to Worcester, Massachusetts.
- Morris Arboretum's Urban Forestry Consultants: To bring in revenue, Morris Arboretum offers arboricultural services to the Philadelphia tri-state area.
Urban Tree Care & Management
- Chicago Region Trees Initiative (CRTI): CRTI website. CRTI is a partnership for coordinated action on key issues facing trees in the Chicagoland region with actionable goals for canopy cover, species and age diversity and management expertise.
-- Tree Advocacy Hub
-- Tree Preservation Ordinance Templates - The Stewardship Mapping Project (STEW-MAP) - a framework for communities, governments, land management agencies, and nonprofits to create a partnership mapping tool
- Arboriculture & Urban Forestry (ISA journal) - now open access for all
- Urban Forestry and Landscape Resources (University of Massachusetts Amherst):
-- Landscape Fact Sheets (information on care/maintenance of trees, diseases, etc.)
-- Urban Forestry Today (resources such as videos, lectures and publications on urban forestry) - Urban Forestry Resources (New York State Urban Forestry Council)
- Urban Forestry Fundamentals series (New York State Urban Forestry Council):
-- Part 1: Concepts and Terms
-- Part 2: Think like an Urban Forester when Selecting Trees
-- Part 3: Roots Grow Like Plates, Not Mirrors. How to Protect Them.
-- Part 4: Watering - Tree Planting & Care Resources (Arbor Day Foundation)
- Tree Species Selection for Green Infrastructure: A Guide for Specifiers (Hirons & Sjöman 2019): comprehensive, research-based decision-making tool on selecting appropriate species for a range of contrasting planting scenarios (guide and companion database)
- Urban Tree Selection for Diversification (Hilbert et al. 2020)
- Urban and Community Forestry Program (New Jersey Forest Service): reforestation, tree planting, and maintenance plan guidelines
- Tree Owner's Manual (U.S. Forest Service)
- A Guide: Developing a Street and Park Tree Management Plan (U.S. Forest Service)
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Tree Pruning Essentials video (Purdue University)
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The Care and Protection of Large and Important Trees (National Champion Tree Program, U.S., 2025)
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Tree Protection During Design & Construction (Pennsylvania State University - APGA Conf. 2017)
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Protecting Trees During Construction (Colorado State University Extension)
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Hazard Tree Management (U.S. Forest Service)
- Urban Horticulture Institute Resources (Cornell University)
-- Plants Selection: Resources to help identify the right plants for the right site; includes Recommended Urban Trees (site assessment and tree selection for stress tolerance) and a Woody Plants Database (tool to help you choose the right tree, shrub or woody vine based on your site’s conditions)
-- Transplanting: Resources for successfully transplanting urban trees and woody plants
-- Community Forestry: Resources on building a healthy urban forest, conducting a community tree inventory, and working with plants and people
Benefits & Value of Community Trees
- The benefits of trees for livable and sustainable communities (Turner-Skoff & Cavender 2019): A critical review of the benefits trees provide to communities and cities
- Plant a tree and save a life? The value of planting more trees in urban areas (Watts et al. 2024)
- Value of Urban Forests (USFS, 2023): Studies on the benefits of trees, broken down by benefit type (air, water, people, etc)
- U.S. Forest Service Community Tree Guides (2023): Guides that identify and describe the benefits and costs of planting trees in a specific climate zone to assist community officials and tree managers increase public awareness and support for tree programs
- Trees at Work (U.S. Forest Service, Arbor Day Foundation, & PlanIT Geo, 2024): U.S. National Urban Tree Canopy Assessment, Spatial Accomplishment Dashboard (of urban forestry initiatives), and related reports, data, and maps
- Connecting Communities to Trees in Response to COVID-19 (Turner-Skoff et al. 2022): Poster displaying how healthy tree canopies can support healthy communities and how botanic gardens and arboreta can contribute
- Urban trees support global biodiversity and sustainable societies (Conference of Parties (COP-15) of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD))
- Praise for diversity: A functional approach to reduce risks in urban forests (Paquette et al. 2021)
- The Complex Issue of Urban Trees—Stress Factor Accumulation and Ecological Service Possibilities (Czaja et al. 2020)
- Strategically growing the urban forest will improve our world (Endreny 2018)
- World Forum on Urban Forests publications
- The Benefits and Limits of Urban Tree Planting for Environmental and Human Health (Pataki et al. 2021)
- What's My Tree Worth? Tree Appraisal Case Studies (Purdue University): Case examples of tree appraisal
