City Councilor Ed Flynn is looking to expand the number of trees in District 2, which includes Downtown, Chinatown, South Boston and parts of the South End.

“Tree canopy, as far as I’m concerned, is critical. It’s also about ensuring residents have not just a safe and a healthy place to live,” said Flynn. “It’s also about people’s mental health and providing environmentally friendly neighborhoods.”

Panels of city officials and non-profit stakeholders discussed ongoing efforts and current troubles in developing the urban canopy during a May 9 public hearing, sponsored by Flynn.

As of 2019 Boston’s average tree canopy was 27%, but certain neighborhoods fell well below that. South Boston only had 8% tree coverage and 7% in Chinatown, the least in the city. Coverage in areas of the Downtown was similarly sparce, according to the data.

A city’s urban canopy is important.

Among other benefits, a healthy city tree population helps increase air quality, manage stormwater runoff systems and reduce temperatures, buffering the heat island effect.

A major roadblock in increasing the canopy is a lack of viable space. In District 2, Chinatown and the Leather District, were identified as having little to no area suitable for traditional tree planting.

“A place like Downtown, and Chinatown specifically, has a very different physical landscape and does not have a lot of opportunities for street tree planting within our standard plan of cutting a hole in the sidewalk and planting a tree there,” said Todd Mistor, the city’s director of urban forestry.

Mistor added that they are looking for more creative solutions to introduce trees to these parts of the city. They’re currently identifying spaces in Chinatown where above ground planters can be installed, a pilot program that could be introduced to other parts of the city, if successful.

Another issue identified by multiple experts during the hearing is the jurisdictional red tape.

The parks department is only able to use funds on streets and sidewalks owned by the city as the public right of way. Private ways, including those maintained by state agencies like the Boston Housing Authority, are therefore not under their jurisdiction, making the identification of suitable spaces for new trees even more complex.

But progress has been made in the two and half years since the release of Boston’s urban forest plan, which established a 20-year framework to increase tree canopy in the city. Mistor said that 196 trees were planted in the district 2 in 2023, 276 in 2024 and 162 already scheduled for 2025.

Even more important for the canopy than planting new trees is maintaining the health of Boston’s existing tree coverage, said Chris Cook, executive director of the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy.

Trees in a city, especially new trees, are competing for space against existing foundations, new construction and underground utilities, they’re also put at risk by weather events and underground gas leaks.

One possible tool identified during the hearing in was education. Stressing the importance of a healthy canopy to developers and residents alike not only helps to add more trees to the city but helps retain that existing coverage.

“Over the years, I’ve unfortunately seen, you know we’ve planted trees in front of buildings before where residents didn’t want trees, and they will go and cut that tree down,” said Boston Tree Warden Max Ford Diamond. “Getting the buy in from the abutting property owner and resident is huge to actually have a successful planting program.”