Advocates want more Harvey residents involved in south suburban tree canopy equity efforts

The Nordson Green Earth Foundation wants you to make the south suburbs more sustainable and resilient.

Founded in 2021, Nordson is best known for planting the Miyawaki forest in front of Markham Courthouse. It's even collaborated with Bremen Township High School students nearby.

But the Chicago-based organization, focused on expanding tree canopy and environmental equity throughout the Chicagoland area, is trying to extend its reach beyond Markham. Its December meeting didn’t have any Harvey residents, according to Sheetal Rao, co-founder and Chief Health Officer. NGEF is hoping to change that.

Interested Harvey residents can head to Wiley’s Grill at the Coyote Run Golf Course in Flossmoor, Saturday, January 28, at 2pm to join the Southland committee. You can sign up to attend here.

Tree canopies consist of the branches, trees, and other foliage that provide ground cover. Places with low tree canopy coverage tend to trap heat in grey infrastructure like streets, bridges, and roads, known as the heat island effect.

That makes for hotter temperatures.

F or communities like Harvey, tree canopies aren't just about environmental justice. They’re also about racial justice.

“Historical disinvestment and climate injustices have led to health inequities in these communities,” Rao wrote in an email to the HWH.

According to the Nature Project Journals, formerly redlined communities–often Black and Brown—have 20% less tree canopies than white communities. Redlining refers to a government-sanctioned practice from the 20th century where certain communities were deemed “hazardous,” blocking potential homeowners from securing home loans to build generational wealth.

Those dreams deferred were often of Black or Brown people, but also extended to whites who lived in some of these racially heterogeneous areas.

“Because we focus our work in communities historically disinvested of trees, we employ the Miyawaki method to establish new trees equitably, sustainably and quickly,” Rao added.

The Miyawaki method grows tree forests rapidly. Seeds are planted densely and randomly, as opposed to conventional methods where they are sparse and in straight lines. Using the Miyawaki method, tree forests grow within decades as opposed to centuries.

Roughly 25% of Harvey is covered in tree canopies, according to data from the Chicago Region Tree Initiative data, which uses census tract data to monitor tree canopy equity. That’s above the Chicago region average of 23%, but below the national average, which some experts believe to be nearly 30%.

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District is slated to help make critical repairs to the city’s water infrastructure. That $3.5 million project, which also benefits nearby Riverdale, includes planting 100 tree around Harvey.

Last year, NGEF planted a total of 285 native plants, including 25 trees. The group also launched a forest monitoring program to track soil moisture and temperatures nearby.

The organization is especially concerned with growing their volunteer committee, currently of 10 to 15 people, in Black and Brown south suburban communities.

“Historically, the voices of those for whom these impacts are most real have been ignored,” Rao wrote.

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