Planting Trees in Cupertino?
YES Please, but also think about birds and butterflies!
What is happening
On November 16th, Cupertino City Council will be holding a study session on the updated Climate Action Plan Measures and Actions. One of the goals is to double the urban tree canopy by 2030 (an addition of 24,000 trees!). We are very supportive of this Tree Canopy goal, but believe that 80% of the trees should be native trees! This is critical if we wish to mitigate the synergistic forces of climate change and loss of biodiversity globally and locally.
Nature Based Solutions are critical to our future, and trees are important to our health and our quality of life. But trees can also support biodiversity, especially if they are native to our region. . myriads of local insect and bird species. Our beautiful months, butterflies and birds depend on restoration of native forests and habitats. We can create a win-win solution, where people and nature benefit from the plantings of oaks, sycamores, and other locally native trees.
Hoesung Lee, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), recently said "Climate change and biodiversity loss combine to threaten society -- often magnifying and accelerating each other". The UN Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity reminds us: “We cannot address climate change & biodiversity loss in isolation. These twin threats are profoundly interconnected and must be addressed together!”
What you can do
Help protect biodiversity in our community and take action on this issue! Email City Council (citycouncil@cupertino.org) before November 16th or speak at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, November 16th via Zoom! We expect this item to be discussed around 6:00pm. The previous agenda item, the Housing Element Study Session, starts at 5:15pm and may end before 6:00pm, so if you are able to arrive before 6:00pm, please do!
Please fill out Cupertino’s Climate Action Plan 2.0 survey! Please make sure to respond to Questions 17-20 by asking the City to plant California native trees, shrubs and grasses to support biodiversity, including butterflies and birds.
See a sample email below:
Send to: citycouncil@cupertino.org
Subject: November 16th Agenda Item: CAP
Dear Mayor Paul and Council Members,
My name is _____ and I am a resident/community member of Cupertino. I appreciate the City’s work on updating our Climate Action Plan, especially for including a Tree Canopy Goal. We support the goal of planting 24,000 trees in Cupertino within the CAP Measures and Actions and ask that 80% of the planted trees and shrubs should be native to California. This will be a critical step forward in addressing the synergistic and devastating impacts of climate change and loss of biodiversity.
Hoesung Lee, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), recently pointed out that the new IPCC report was an "important step" in the collaboration between scientific fields focusing on climate and those focused on biodiversity, stating "Climate change and biodiversity loss combine to threaten society -- often magnifying and accelerating each other". More trees also help people: improved moods and mental health, reduce impact of extreme heat, and increase quality of life!
The importance of cities in providing habitat for wildlife, especially for birds and beneficial insects, has been widely recognized. Cities around the globe are encouraged to adopt biodiversity and “rewilding” priorities to address our global biodiversity crisis. For these reasons we are asking the CAP Measures to include 80% native trees within the Tree Canopy Goal.
Thank you,
Your Name