A mini-grant program will offer non-profit, volunteer groups funding to plant new trees as part of a citywide effort to improve Boston’s tree canopy cover. The Grow Boston Greener (GBG) initiative will provide $500 - $2,500 mini-grants for tree plantings in city neighborhoods on public property or privately held publicly accessible areas such as schools, parks, greenways, gardens, grounds of health and social service agencies, and in projects of community development corporations.

The application deadline for the grant program is October 3. There will be a GBG briefing session on September 22 from 6–7 p.m. to help applicants plan their projects and answer questions. The meeting will be held at the office of Boston Natural Areas Network, 62 Summer St, 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02110. Please RSVP at 617-542-7696, ext 20.

A 2007 inventory of the City’s trees shows that Boston had an overall tree canopy cover of 29 percent. The GBG vision is to plant an additional 100,000 trees by 2020 to increase the urban tree canopy to 35 percent and make Boston a cooler, cleaner, healthier city. Boston Natural Areas Network manages the GBG program in partnership with the City of Boston. Funding for the GBG program is provided by the support of corporate and philanthropic donors through the Fund for Parks and Recreation in Boston.

Eligible non-profits must apply, complete and submit a GBG application form, a property owner consent form and a signed watering agreement by October 3 . Site visits for all applications will be conducted from October 4- 14. Applicants will be notified of decisions on October 17. Trees need to be planted by December 15. For more information visit the GBG web site at www.growbostongreener.org or call BNAN’s Boston Urban Forestry Program Coordinator at 617-542-7686 ext 20.