City Trees

• Fifth, because the tool was developed in the U.S., there is a belief that it will not have the species we have in México. To my surprise, however, it turns out the percentage of species that have to be classified as MACLASS (a generic hardwood species code in Eco), are few and not only that, they represent a very small per- centage of the population (examples in Table 2). Removing Barriers Where necessary, my approach to training has been to make an inventory of a park with experi- enced surveyors as an example; new clients see how easy it is and gain confidence with the tool for future and bigger projects. With the i-Tree Eco version in Spanish now available, I am sure there has been an increase in projects submitted. However, I know that some users, because they do not understand databases, have had problems and get frustrated. To improve this situation, more seminars and other teaching tools for database management have to be developed in Spanish. Another issue I mentioned before is the imple- mentation or usefulness of the results. Thus far, I have not seen immediate action in the wake of any inventory. This is partly because of the lack of skilled urban foresters who can implement the recommendations. For this reason, starting with the La Ceiba Park project, I began conducting a results workshop every time I finish an inventory. In the workshop, I present the results and recom- mendations and facilitate a discussion among staff how they can incorporate the report's findings into their work plans. We also discuss what scenarios we should run with the i-Tree Eco forecast option, which projects tree populations and some bene- fits over time. I guide the staff in forming realistic goals and plans for increasing tree canopy and tree species diversity in their cities and parks. We look at how sensitive the tree population is to natural disasters and disease. Finally, we discuss using i-Tree Species to develop a list of potential species to use for reforestation, taking into account the inventory results and using a modified Santamour Rule (use no more than 10% of any one species, 20% of any one genus, or 30% of any family.) Unfortunately, in México there has been a change of government administration on different levels that seriously affects the continuity of the application of the inventory results; only Mérida is still working with the information. They have realized that they need a municipal nursery for the plant size and species required for reforestation, and it seems Mérida will be the first city in México to have its own urban for- estry department. This is good news because so far, the street and park trees have been under the care of public services departments. Their role has been only sanitary—removing and cleaning branches—and not that of pruning and proper tree maintenance. Place Species Total Species 80%* Species Not in i-Tree % Population 1. City of Mérida, Yucatán 134 33 15 4 2. City of Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo 104 17 10 1.5 3. Municipality of Guadalajara, Jalisco 79 20 0 0 4. Street Trees of City of Puebla, Puebla 54 8 3 0.1 Table 2. Species analysis for selected studies. *Species making up 80% of population. 36 CityTREES

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