#FreetownTheTreeTown: A Community-Driven Tree-Planting Revolution

21 juni 2023

Redactie openresearch.amsterdam

Talk by Eric Hubbard (the Creative Bureaucracy Festival 2023)

In this presentation, senior advisor to the Mayor of Freetown Eric Hubbard will share the community-driven tree-planting revolution taking place in Sierra Leone's capital.

Against the backdrop of population expansion and rapid urbanization, the Freetown City Council co-designed with climate vulnerable communities across the city the #FreetownTheTreeTown campaign to plant, digitally track and grow 1 million trees by 2023—an effort that would increase the city's vegetation cover by 50%.

Having hit this goal, the city now has its sights set on scaling its ecosystem-based climate adaptation approach with a new target: an additional 5 to 10 million trees!

By using blended sources of finance and digital innovation, Freetown has developed a sustainable financing model for urban nature-based solutions that can be replicated in other under-resourced cities. Hubbard shares advice for peers in other cities to increase canopy cover, green infrastructure, and community-led climate action.