TAMPA, Fla. — The City of Tampa will host a public meeting Thursday night to release its five-year tree canopy report.

The city will also issue a call to neighborhoods, specifically South Tampa, downtown and Channelside, where the tree canopy has been reduced significantly because of development and the age of trees.

Tampa’s senior forest examiner Brian Knox said North Tampa has the most significant tree cover in the city. Tampa Palms tops the list with 70% tree cover, followed by Hunters Green and Old Seminole Heights.

However, near downtown, some neighborhoods only see a tree cover of 7% to 9%, areas that are now contributing to the lowest tree cover Tampa has seen in 26 years.

“Our goal is to provide those benefits to those communities that already have it, communities that need it, and also communities that may not know they need it,” Knox said. “And so what we intend to do is reach out to those communities and work with them closely to figure out what they want, and that’s what this meeting is all about.”

The benefits of tree cover include a break from the heat, which has hit Tampa hard this summer. City leaders also said its current tree canopy reduces over 1000 tons of air pollutants a year, saving city residents an estimated $9.9 million in annual health care costs.

The city said it has secured funding for projects to increase Tampa’s tree canopy, with the hopes of adding thousands of new trees in the next seven years.

“Our goal is to plant 30,000 trees by 2030,” Knox said. “We got some funding that we applied for, and we are really excited about all the things we can do to help bolster the city’s canopy.”

You can find Tampa’s latest tree analysis here. 

The public is invited to attend tonight's symposium from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Registration is not required.