The Cool Boulder campaign forms partnerships between the city, local organizations and communities to address the climate crisis and biodiversity loss through nature-based climate action!
Our community’s health and resilience depend on restoring soils, trees, and natural habitats—starting right where we live.
As climate impacts intensify, trees and vegetation offer critical protection by cooling our neighborhoods and improving air and water quality. At the same time, we’re seeing a rapid decline in native pollinators and overall biodiversity, while degraded landscapes are losing the ability to hold water, carbon, and nutrients.
By planting and protecting trees, enhancing habitat, and supporting healthy soil—on balconies, yards, and shared spaces—we can address climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation at the same time.
Much of this work must happen on private land and be driven by community members. City staff can provide training and support, but real change will require thousands of engaged residents working together.
Action Areas
Pollinator
Pathways
Pollinator Pathways are corridors of diverse plants that support cooling temperatures and foster biodiversity, especially for native pollinators. Creating and expanding an interconnected network of these corridors on both public and private land will provide important habitats and help manage carbon and water in ways that reduce the impacts of climate change.
Connected
Canopies
Connected Canopies help reduce temperatures and expand access to the benefits of urban trees. Boulder needs major investments to both maintain the health of the existing tree canopy and plant thousands of additional trees, most of which will need to be located on private land.
Absorbent
Landscapes
Absorbent Landscapes hold more carbon, more water, and more thermal energy, helping to cool our city as well as prevent dangerous flooding that Boulder is prone to. This collaborative effort is focused on improving carbon sequestration, soil health, and water retention/management through regenerative agriculture, sustainable grasslands and turf management, and other actions in the landscaped areas within our City as well as in the working lands surrounding Boulder.
We 💛 Pollinators
Cool Boulder needs you!
Become an organizational partner, join a community action team, and more. Click below to learn how you can become a part of the Cool Boulder campaign!