Neat Streets Miami Awards Tree Matching Grant to Miami Beach
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS, Tel: 305.673.7575 PRESS RELEASE
Tonya Daniels, E-mail: tonyadaniels@miamibeachfl.gov
Melissa Berthier, E-mail: melissaberthier@miamibeachfl.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 10, 2017
Neat Streets Miami Awards Tree Matching Grant to Miami Beach
– As Part of the Initiative to Double the Green on Miami-Dade Streets –
Miami Beach, FL – Miami Beach residents will soon be cooler than ever! This is thanks to
Miami-Dade County and the Neat Streets Miami Program, which leverages local
resources to enhance the urban forest. Neat Streets Miami awarded the City of Miami Beach a
Street Tree Matching grant in the amount of $15,000 for its Species Project. In its second year,
Neat Streets Miami’s street tree program awarded 13 organizations matching grants to advance
the Million Trees Miami initiative, a community-wide effort to plant one million trees and achieve
a 30 percent tree canopy cover by 2020 in Miami-Dade County.
Awardees were announced by Neat Streets Miami Chairman, Miami-Dade Commissioner
Dennis C. Moss, District 9, at the 2017 LEAF Summit, South Florida’s premier exchange on
trees. This event attracted approximately 200 community leaders and provided the opportunity
to learn and apply best management practices for expanding the tree canopy in Miami-Dade.
“With the Street Tree Matching Grant program, the County is leveraging funds to make our
streets more lush and green,” said Commissioner Moss. “By matching resources for trees, we
are creating more shade, beautifying corridors and gateways and encouraging more activity in
communities throughout the County.”
There are many benefits that come with having a prosperous urban canopy. It has been found
that when sitting under a tree, the temperature can feel up to 35 degrees cooler. The benefits
don’t stop there - trees also help intercept thousands of gallons of urban stormwater runoff,
reduce CO2 and help conserve electricity.
“We are grateful to have received these funds from Neat Streets Miami to help enhance our
city’s tree canopy and make Miami Beach even more sustainable,” said City Manager Jimmy L.
Morales. “As part of this project, we will plant 44 trees to provide shade and beautify our North
Beach neighborhood.”
Tree species to be planted include Verawoods (Bulnesia arborea), Wild Tamarinds (Lysiloma
bahamensis), Gumbo Limbos (Bursera simaruba), Green Buttonwoods (Conocarpus erectus),
and several other Florida-friendly tree species.
About Million Trees Miami and Neat Streets Miami
Launched by Neat Streets Miami, the Million Trees Miami Campaign is a community-wide effort
to plant one million trees by 2020 in order to achieve a 30 percent tree canopy cover for Miami-
Dade County. Housed in the Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces, Neat Streets
Miami is a multi-jurisdictional county board that creates beautiful, green and livable
transportation corridors, gateways and connections.
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