About Sunnyvale Urban Forest Advocates (SUFA)
SUFA was founded in the Fall of 2014. The Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP) was adopted unanimously (7-0) by the Sunnyvale City Council on September 16, 2014.
Within the UFMP there is a provision for the formation of a volunteer group in Sunnyvale to work with the City in the care and growth of the Urban Forest.
The group consists of volunteers of any age who are interested in promoting and protecting the urban forest in Sunnyvale. SUFA works closely together with the City but is a separate entity in itself.
Meetings have been taking place monthly since November of 2014.
Our Mission
SUFA will be working with the City of Sunnyvale in its efforts to protect existing trees and to plant and care for new ones. The emphasis will be on City trees (street trees, at schools and in parks). We will also work with residents in the care and promotion of trees on private property.
The current canopy cover in Sunnyvale is around 18%. Many mature trees have been removed over the past few years to make way for new development. Our goal in the next few years is to increase the urban forest canopy cover to at least 20% (which translates to planting an additional 30,000 trees).
The neighboring city of Palo Alto has a canopy cover of 37%!
