Green Spaces Are Making a Comeback in New Orleans

"An estimated 320 million trees are thought to have been damaged or killed in Mississippi and Louisiana after Katrina — an unprecedented loss that local researchers in 2007 estimated would change the area’s ecosystem for the worse for generations to come," according to an article by Della Hasselle. "Fast-forward to 2016, however, and officials with New Orleans’ numerous organizations dedicated to protecting green spaces are celebrating what they call an unanticipated comeback for the city’s trees."

City organizations and nonprofit groups have been working hard for more than a decade to restore the city and region's green spaces. According to Hasselle, "the latest tallies show about half of the trees lost to Katrina have been replanted in public spaces alone..." And although a "grand total is difficult to calculate…the number of newly planted trees is even higher" because of the many trees planted on private property, like the yards of residents.

The article details the hard work of the city's Department of Parks and Parkways and organizations like Parkway Partners and the nonprofit NOLA Tree Project in overcoming the many environmental and biological threats that ravaged the region's trees and other plant life after Hurricane Katrina. 

Planetizen covered the terrible effects of Hurricane Katrina on the city of New Orlean's greenery in 2007, as well some of the resurgence of the city's parks and open spaces in 2014.