WATCH: The Benefits of Trees

The trees that grow in our forests, parks and neighborhoods provide people and nature so many benefits.

Some may seem obvious – like providing a cool space to rest, cleaning our air and providing homes for birds, bugs and wildlife.  Other not-so-obvious benefits come from the way people connect to trees.

To shine a light on these benefits, The Nature Conservancy in Washington produced a series of three videos featuring the stories and expertise of people and organizations in the Puget Sound region.

The first video features the work of Whale Scout and Whitney Neugebauer, Whale Scout’s Executive Director.  Learn about how a love of Orca whales can lead to restoring tree canopy along urban streams.

In the second video of the series, the focus is on the work of the Tacoma Tree Foundation. Listen to the stories of Executive Director Sarah Low and Community Partnerships Coordinator Alejandro Fernandez as they share about how planting trees is strengthening community relationships in South Tacoma.

The final video of the series highlights how nature benefits our mental and physical health. Listen to mental health counselor, Jeremy Grisham and University of Washington researcher, Dr. Greg Bratman, discuss the value of nature. Trigger Warning: This video contains wartime footage and narrative, as well as discussion of mental illness that may be distressing to some.

These videos and stories demonstrate the potential benefits that trees can provide for people and communities.  Learn more about the benefits of trees – and how you can be an advocate for trees in your community.

Thank you to each of the subjects of the videos for sharing their stories and to Baron Visuals for creating these videos.  Major funding for these videos providing by The Boeing Company.