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Who We Are
Born from the vision of a teenager more than 50 years ago, TreePeople inspires people to come together to grow a more climate-resilient Southern California. We have planted and cared for millions of trees, restored thousands of acres of fire-scarred wildlands, and helped to educate hundreds of thousands of environmentalists.
When California experiences climate emergencies, TreePeople researches and implements sustainable solutions to protect and restore natural resources. When fires burn, TreePeople restores native ecosystems to grow more resilient wilderness areas and communities. When communities face extreme heat, TreePeople plants and distributes shade trees. When schools are covered in asphalt, TreePeople greens schoolyards. When students worry about the future, TreePeople provides tools and education to train our next generation of environmental leaders. As the world faces increasing threats from climate change, TreePeople helps unite communities around actionable solutions.
What We Do

Community Forestry
Through our urban planting and tree care events and tree distributions, we work with communities to increase tree canopy and green space where it’s most needed, building resilience in the face of climate change.

Restoration & Conservation
TreePeople trains and mobilizes thousands each year to increase the climate and fire resilience of Southern California’s wildlands. By cultivating native plants in our nursery, removing invasive species, prioritizing biodiversity, and providing long-term site management, our comprehensive restoration model helps facilitate long-term recovery for degraded sites and burn scars, assuring they are healthier and more fire-resilient for future generations.

School Greening
We create green learning environments that enhance academic achievement, support health and well-being, and create safe places to play in nature. Through partnerships with school communities and districts, we advocate for, implement, and manage school greening projects to protect students from extreme heat, air pollution, and polluted water.

Education & Outdoor Equity
Every year, TreePeople engages tens of thousands of students in parks and on campuses to teach environmental literacy and provide hands-on, actionable solutions to our climate crisis. We also offer tools to teachers so they can continue to deepen students’ understanding of our local ecosystems.

TreePeople Land Trust
We steward more than 3,000 acres of land in the Santa Monica Mountains–protecting these spaces for the benefit of future generations. Programs include public recreation, environmental education, scientific research, and more.

Policy & Advocacy
TreePeople works from the policy level to the grassroots level to facilitate science-based policies, incentives, and applicable demonstration programs to transform Southern California utilizing nature-based solutions.

Research
TreePeople’s Research Department has been at the forefront of urban environmental science for over a decade, producing scientific reports that inform and inspire action on issues like water security, soil, drought resilience, and urban heat.

Water
TreePeople supports communities in rethinking the way we manage water by modeling best watershed management practices and engaging people through education and participation in community retrofit projects. This demonstrates how our schools, homes, streets, and alleys can be transformed to improve water quality, increase water supply, and provide community benefits. We show how simple changes can protect our water, reduce pollution, and create greener spaces.

Coldwater Canyon Park
TreePeople’s 45-acre headquarters on Mulholland Drive in the Santa Monica Mountains offers nature trails, experiential education, and cultural programming and is home to TreePeople’s Native Plant Nursery.
Get Involved

Events at the Park
TreePeople events are where arts and environmental education converge in Southern California – creating a new space to explore the connections between creativity and ecology.

Learn
TreePeople has nearly 50 years worth of resources and educational materials for you to learn from and take action with. Transform your community with our handy videos, project kits, and downloadable resources.

Shop
For nearly 50 years, TreePeople has planted over 3 million trees with 3 million volunteers across Southern California. Purchasing these products helps us plant and care for the next 3 million!

Tree Dedication Cards
Looking for a way to honor, celebrate, or memorialize a loved one? Purchase physical and virtual cards to send today! Each card supports TreePeople’s mission planting trees and restoring ecosystems, educating the next generation of environmentalists, and researching for our future.

Wildfire Resilience Fund
Wildfires are a natural part of California’s landscape, but their increasing intensity threatens our forests, communities, and green spaces. At TreePeople, we are dedicated to fire resilience, working to restore fire-scarred lands, prevent future devastation, and protect the biodiversity of Southern California. Yet, we can’t do it alone—we need your help.
Donate today to TreePeople’s Wildfire Resilience Fund and be a part of the solution.

Monthly Giving
Canopy funds will directly benefit our initiatives in urban and school greening for underserved communities, support our wildfire restoration initiatives, and allow us to provide environmental education to thousands of students each year.
Blog

TreePeople Appoints Dr. Cassie Rauser as its New CEO
Dear TreePeople Community, Late last year, I was truly honored to be elected the new Board Chair at TreePeople. Having grown up in Los Angeles, I have known about TreePeople most of my life. In fact, I went to high school just down the hill from Coldwater Canyon Park. Over the years, I have spent…

School Greening Summer Update
As school greening work heats up, surface temps cool down Did you know that as part of our CAL FIRE grants, we are required to take surface temperatures before, during, and after construction for all project sites? Our team visits sites prior to construction with the design in hand, focusing on any surface that will…

Grow Together: How to Start a Community Tree Care Team 🌳 in 5 Easy Steps
Have you ever strolled down your street and thought, “Wow, these trees could use a little TLC”? It’s not an uncommon experience here in SoCal, where many of our local trees are struggling to survive due to climate change, improper care, or harsh growing conditions. But guess what? You can do something about it! Forming…

How to Create a More Tree-Friendly City
Life in the big city is REALLY tough for trees. While trees in the wild often live 100 years or more, the average lifespan of an urban tree is just 19 to 28 years, according to the USDA. What accounts for this discrepancy? Well, many of our urban environments aren’t built for trees—they’re built for…