For the 14th year in a row, Penn has earned Tree Campus Higher Education recognition, an Arbor Day Foundation program that honors colleges and universities for promoting healthy trees and conservation. The designation is an opportunity to show how much work is put into maintaining the thousands of trees in Penn’s urban forest.

Penn’s campus is home to 240 tree species, from fiery red maples to glossy-leaved southern magnolias to the historic Penn Treaty Elm. Trees demarcate space, providing shade, animal habitats, meet-up points, and picnic spots. Campus trees are checked for safety, measured on a three-year cycle, pruned, watered, and monitored for pests and diseases, which are becoming more prevalent with the onslaught of climate change.

Beyond Penn’s campus, the Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services also works closely with the urban forestry team at Morris Arboretum & Gardens, Penn’s 90-year-old, 92-acre expanse in the northwest corner of Philadelphia. Morris Arboretum & Gardens is open to the public with free admission for PennCard holders and has over 13,000 tagged plant specimens and several notable trees, including dawn redwoods and the rare Engler beech.