MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.  –  Growing kale, herbs and much more has taught the Beaupain family an appreciation for nature and helped cultivate a green thumb in 11-year-old Ryan Beaupain.

“It feels good to see something so small, grow and then you use it, and then you harvest it and you make use of the plant that you made,” Ryan said.

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Ryan has been gardening for the last two years, but most recently he learned about climate change and how Greta Thunberg, a young environmental activist, has inspired others like him to make a difference in local communities.

Ryan started to do some research last November on ways he could help and found out city properties in Manhattan Beach provided only about three percent of canopy cover. After meeting with Manhattan Beach city officials, he also learned that some of those trees were dying.

“The farther along you go over here, there are going to be some areas where trees have died of disease and there are some open spots there,” Ryan said.

According to the City of Manhattan Beach, eight percent of the city’s 11,500 trees are in decline. Now, Ryan is on a mission to make up for the loss by planting more trees in Polliwog Park. But, he’ll have to raise enough money first.

After some research with nurseries, Ryan found each tree to cost about $3,000. So far, he’s raised just over $5,000 through a GoFundMe campaign, an amount that’s almost enough to plant two trees.

In a statement, Manhattan Beach Public Works Director Stephanie Katsouleas said in part, “We are certainly very supportive of his efforts, accepting his tree donation and finding the best locations to plant his trees.” 

Seeing Ryan’s efforts bear fruit, is a proud moment for his mother, Cathy Beaupain who hopes this project will lead Ryan to continue thinking about his community in the future.

“I’m certainly, very proud of him. Hopefully, he can inspire his friends and peers to really develop their own voice and advocate for what they believe in.

Ryan’s hopeful that with the support of the city, he’ll see his idea break ground soon.

“I hope to create a tighter, stronger community and I’d like to inspire other people to use their voice to represent what they believe in,” Ryan said.

But until then, he’ll continue planning with the city on where to place the new trees and hopefully inspire the next South Bay generation to take on their own initiatives and bring collective change.