The first city-wide health impact assessment of the estimated effects of a tree canopy initiative on premature mortality in Philadelphia suggests that increased tree canopy could prevent between 271 and 400 premature deaths per year. The study by Michelle Kondo, a Philadelphia-based research social scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, and her partners suggest that increased tree canopy or green space could decrease morbidity and mortality for urban populations – particularly in areas with lower socioeconomic status where existing tree canopies tend to be the lowest.
The study, "Health impact assessment of Philadelphia's 2025 tree canopy cover goals," examined the potential impact of Greenworks Philadelphia, a plan to increase tree canopy to 30 percent across the city by 2025, on human mortality. The analysis is one of the first to estimate the number of preventable deaths based on physical activity, air pollution, noise, heat, and exposure to greenspaces using a tool developed by public health researchers in Spain and Switzerland called the Greenspace-Health Impact Assessment.
Recently published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health, the study is available through the Forest Service's Northern Research Station at: https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/59911
Read more at United States Department of Agriculture
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