00:00:00.000The City of Toronto is now factoring in race into where it plants trees using a new ranking system that deprioritizes neighborhoods with more white residents, even if they lack a canopy.
00:00:13.420The City of Toronto has adopted a new system, which it calls the Tree Equity Score Analyzer, or TESA.
00:00:20.120Now, this system ranks neighborhoods for tree planting priority using a bunch of factors, things like age, employment, health, heat severity, income, language, and race.
00:00:33.620And in the documentation, race is defined as the percentage of residents who are non-white or indigenous.
00:00:41.260Given the way that it's calculated and all other factors being equal, a higher share of the groups
00:00:46.860considered within the equity category increases the neighborhood's priority score. And that means
00:00:52.260that two areas with the same amount of trees can be ranked differently based on demographics.
00:00:58.540This model was developed by an American non-profit called American Forests, which views its mission
00:01:06.820or this movement as a social equity-focused approach.
00:01:11.600Now, officials in the City of Toronto say that this effort is meant to address
00:01:15.780heat and environmental risks in vulnerable communities.
00:01:20.180But while tree planting has traditionally been based on environmental need,
00:01:26.200now the racial composition of your neighbourhood could directly influence where public resources go.