By: Fabian Osorio / Contributing Writer
Coconut Grove resident Maria Brown says that trees such as oaks and palms around her building are becoming less with each development project.
“In Coconut Grove there are few protected trees, but developers find loopholes to have even these removed,” said Brown. “There are no intention or incentives for preservation in place pertaining to developers.”
The forces of urbanization are intensifying in the local neighborhoods creating concerns about the future of the verdant landscape.
Having lived in the area for 19 years, she is aware there is a tree protection plan in place for her neighborhood called “tree protection ordinance,” but real estate developers neither handle nor incorporate it.
“Tree ordinance is at odds with zoning. Zoning/building code needs to be amended,” said Brown. “Grove ReLeaf does not prevent trees from being removed.”
The above mentioned Florida International University project is meant to help city leaders incorporate neighborhood tree data and inform the public to make better decisions.
Grove ReLeaf aims at mapping every tree in the neighborhood and calculating what it calls the “services” produced by each of those trees. These “services” include things like the estimated amount of carbon trapped by a tree.
According to the International Center for Tropical Botany (ICTB), knowing the composition of every tree canopy is vital to determining which trees are at risk of falling during the hurricane season, and calculating the important ecological and economic benefits of trees.
“I think one of the benefits that we offer is more information and shared information so that people can make their own assessment of what they perceive as the value of having trees in their system,” said Baraloto.
Grove ReLeaf was introduced in Coconut Grove earlier this year with the intention of bringing workshops about tropical botany to the community and helping with the ongoing discussion regarding the tree ordinance.
“We began to think about how we could leverage our expertise to better inform the public around issues of the tree ordinance in the city,” Baraloto said. “We began to put together ideas for the program and began to find out other partners who wanted to collaborate and take part in this.”
Christopher Baraloto measuring a plant. Photo provided by Nina Jungman.
Although there are other areas in Miami that have also been mapped, Coconut Grove was selected as the pilot neighborhood because its attractive tree canopy stands out among most South Florida neighborhoods.
Another positive aspect of the Grove ReLeaf project is that local residents can save money if they have a tree canopy in their backyard. An easy assessment can provide the estimated value from energy savings. For example, the amount of shading and cooling that is provided by a tree can be calculated.
Baraloto can measure the dimensions of a tree and find its dollar value. This can incentivize residents to maintain and also plant trees in their neighborhood.
“Once we identify a tree, then we take some very basic measurements of diameter and height; we can leverage that to calculate and translate those into dollar values the services provided,” Baraloto said.
ICTB Director Christopher Baraloto is the head of research project from Florida International University called “Grove ReLeaf.”
He and his team created inventories throughout the Amazon area and want to incorporate their experience in urban places in South Florida. They want to identify, collect, and measure trees to assign value in terms of the ecosystem services they provide.
“Once we’ve identified them, and so it’s not so different, and in fact in many ways it’s simplified to do it in an urban setting, but I think the impact can be much greater in the urban setting when we first put the tags out on the trees, it generated a lot of interest –yeah, it was quite nice, right!” said Baraloto.
According to him, the project is all about understanding not only what is most appropriate in terms of planting conditions, soil, light, etc. but also adding value to the tree canopy project by mapping and monitoring urban trees across the Miami area.
People could make more informed decisions about what trees would be most appropriate to maintain or to even plant in different locations in the city.
Baraloto and his team had the first meeting with governmental and non-governmental organizations in Coconut Grove this past June. So far, “Grove ReLeaf” has been supported primarily by the ICTB staff.
In addition, the project has generated a lot of interest among residents and organizations such as the Coconut Grove Women’s Club, Dream in Green and Carrollton School. Baraloto is still looking to raise more funds.
He wants to begin offering workshops, giving away trees, and delivering more information to the local community.
The neighborhoods of Miami Beach, Coral Gables and Pinecrest have some tree inventories already. Baraloto would also like to provide them with more comprehensive information.
All the data collected by Baraloto’s team is aggregated into an Interactive app called “iNaturalist.” It is the main tool used to collect the data of this program.
App visitors who might be interested in contributing to biodiversity, the only thing they need to do is observing, taking pictures and sharing them online with fellow naturalists.
The data is compatible with the iNaturalist organization. It is a joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society.
Nina Jungman, who is the program coordinator of the International Center for Tropical Botany Department at FIU, said that students can get involved in the project and contribute to it just by taking pictures.
“This can be easily done, it is the simplest part of the project. It is just yourself with your cell phone. You can take pictures when you go for a walk around as many times as you want,” said Jungman.
She invites students interested in learning how to participate in the working mapping tree and events to email her team at tropics@fiu.edu or visit the website for the International Center for Tropical Botany (ICTB) at ictb.fiu.edu.
“If we can get Coconut Grove finished first, the next step will involve the standardization and coordination of the information among areas where there are already inventories in place, and then decide jointly with the team where the next priorities should be,” Baraloto said.
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