Urban forests can help communities adapt to and reduce the effects of climate change, but these forests are also vulnerable to changes in climate. The Northern Research Station and partners developed a menu of actions to adapt urban forests to climate change while also improving human health and well-being.

Decades of research has described the role of urban forests helping cities address climate change by supporting greenhouse gas mitigation and reducing the impacts of extreme heat and altered climate that impair human health. The street trees, urban parks, and backyard climbing trees that make up an urban forest also provide space for communities to commune with nature.

Urban areas, however, are particularly vulnerable to climate change. High levels of impervious cover, pollution, and built structures intensify impacts from increasing temperatures, drought, and extreme weather. This puts residents at risk of many climate stressors that cause both mental and physical harm. The people managing urban forests need robust strategies to adapt to a changing climate.

The Northern Research Station, Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, American Forests, and the University of Washington partnered to compile adaptation actions that address climate change in urban forest management, while recognizing the fundamentally interconnected nature of human health and well-being. The Urban Forest Climate and Health Adaptation Menu synthesizes a wide range of peer-reviewed research, evidence-based reports, and emerging best practices on climate change adaptation, urban forest management, and human health impacts to aid urban forestry professionals and partners in addressing climate change in project planning and implementation.