The Green Heart Louisville Project
Louisville, Kentucky
Category: Research
Year: 2017
Funding: With a lead grant from the Owsley Brown II Family Foundation, The Nature Conservancy ultimately raised and provided over $8.7 million for tree planting and maintenance, project management and other key project needs. Additional local donors provided another $3 million.
BACKGROUND
High rates of heart disease in Louisville, combined with poor air quality and urban heat islands have prompted the need for urban greening. The Green Heart Louisville Project is a public health strategy that shows the powerful impact of how adding trees to a neighborhood can influence its storm fall and temperature. This study is the first longitudinal clinical trial to test urban greening and uses a pharmaceutical intervention model. Based on the findings of the study, the Nature Conservancy and Louisville Grows planted over 8,000 trees and shrubs in the Green Heart Louisville Project study area.