The urban forest is a critical component of a city’s overall green infrastructure. Just as a city’s roads, pipes, and power lines deliver essential services to all its neighbors, a city’s trees provide measurable economic benefits and improve people’s health and quality of life.

The City of Fort Lauderdale established an urban forest with a current total canopy coverage estimate of 26.6% (2024).

Trees are an increasingly valuable resource that can help to alleviate some impacts of climate change, including urban heat islands, decreased air quality, and flooding. To that end, the City has resolved to achieve 33% tree canopy cover by 2040.

The following are examples of City planning documents that include general references to urban forestry: 

Press Play Fort Lauderdale 2029 - One of the City’s five-year strategic plan objectives is to “Grow and Enhance the Urban Forest.”

Advance Fort Lauderdale Comprehensive Plan - Adopted in 2020, this plan has 31 references to trees including OBJECTIVE CON 3.1: Sustainable Landscape and Tree Canopy - “Preserve and enhance the natural environment and beauty of the city, improve infrastructure, and promote better quality of life by creating a safe, healthy, and sustainable landscape. The City shall continue to enhance its tree canopy to 33% by 2040.”

The City is developing an Urban Forestry Master Plan that includes specific guidance on preserving existing trees and meeting our tree canopy goals:

Urban Forestry Master Plan - In 2023, the City resolved to create a road map that would provide a framework for the City’s leaders and community to achieve these objectives.

The creation, adoption and implementation of an Urban Forestry Master Plan is essential to attaining the City’s urban canopy planning objectives and developing strategies to best manage the City’s urban forest both now and into the future.

The Plan will evaluate the status of the City’s urban forest, establish a clear set of priorities and objectives and provide a sustainable, strategic and equitable framework for the management, maintenance, enhancement and regulation for the City’s trees.

Recognizing the collective ecological, environmental, economic, cultural and social contributions of the City’s trees, the Plan will benefit both the public and private urban forests and the community at large by guiding appropriate tree planting, maintenance and regulation.

A major objective of the Urban Forestry Master Plan is to work with neighborhood associations, faith-based groups, local business groups and other members of the public to identify areas of interest and meet stakeholder needs.

A draft of the Urban Forestry Master Plan is being developed, which incorporates feedback from the recently concluded public meetings and survey. See the meeting recordings and survey results at  ftlcity.info/ufmp .

Existing Conditions and Modeling (May 2024–March 2025)

•  Review existing urban forestry programs, plans, ordinances, and initiatives
•  Understand existing tree canopy management and maintenance

 Stakeholder Engagement (January–April 2025)

• Gather feedback from City departments on their interactions with trees in the community
• Conduct stakeholder meetings in all districts
• Host a citywide meeting for public input on the Urban Forestry Master Plan
• Offer opportunity to provide input through an online survey

Urban Forestry Master Plan Development (Summer–Fall 2025)

• Produce the Urban Forestry Master Plan
  • Formulate tree planting and preservation incentives
  • Identify strategies to increase overall tree canopy to 33% by 2040
  • Develop an implementation plan
• Collect public comments on draft Urban Forestry Master Plan
• Present draft Urban Forestry Master Plan to Sustainability Advisory Board
• Incorporate comments from public and Sustainability Advisory board into final plan
• Present final Urban Forestry Master Plan to the City Commission

• Fort Lauderdale's Urban Forestry Program
• Fort Lauderdale’s Tree Ordinance