Smart Trees Pacific is a non-profit organization focused on urban and community forestry serving Hawaii & the Pacific.
We recognize that the Pacific region’s tropical urban trees are a vital resource and we work to support, manage, and raise awareness for our urban forests! With over 40 years of collective experience that demonstrates our knowledge and skills in Urban Forestry, Smart Trees Pacific is a leader in developing sustainable and healthy community forests.
Our Mission
“Promote and provide resources to select, install, establish, and care for trees to provide solutions for the natural and human environment.”
Our History
Smart Trees Pacific was originally founded as ‘Friend’s of Hawaii’s Urban Forests’ in 1998 by Kevin Eckert, Teresa Trueman-Madriaga, and Larry Gay. The organization was established to take on a supportive role to grow and enhance the State of Hawaii’s Kaulunani Urban and Community Forestry Program.
In 2014, our organization’s name changed to Smart Trees Pacific in order to reflect our broader goals within the Pacific region. We continue to work throughout the Hawaiian Islands and have been proud to branch into other areas in the Pacific supporting a variety of urban forestry initiatives.
Today, Smart Trees Pacific operates as an independent non-profit urban forestry organization while continuing to work jointly with DLNR, Division of Forestry and Wildlife to administer and deliver the Kaulunani Urban and Community Forestry Program. Smart Trees Pacific works under the simple goal of improving and sustaining vital urban forests across the Pacific.
What We Do
Smart Trees Pacific is a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness about the many benefits of trees by building partnerships and providing operational, technical, and material resources to best use urban trees as a dynamic resource that will enhance sustainable communities.
Smart Trees Pacific seeks opportunities to increase the collective understanding, establishment and maintenance of the urban forest. We believe that using sophisticated technology coupled with sound arboriculture practices will lead to enhanced value and benefits, and an acceptance of trees as an integral component of the green infrastructure.
We work hard to initiate community environmental change through collaborative work:
- Urban Forestry Grants: Smart Trees helps deliver quarterly grants through the state’s Kaulunani Urban and Community Forestry Program
- Urban Tree Canopy Assessments: Smart Trees has assessed Honolulu’s tree canopy and monitors change in canopy levels
- Citizen Forester Program: Smart Trees engages volunteers to systematically inventory and map public trees in Hawaii and the Pacific
- Restoration Projects: Smart Trees recommends integrated courses of action to restore native ecosystems
- Urban Forestry Storm Response: Smart Trees has collaborated to create Hawaii’s urban forestry emergency operations planning toolkit, providing urban forestry professionals concrete approaches when preparing for natural disasters that impact the urban forest.
- And more!
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