The City of Worcester unveiled its first urban forest master plan this week, with a motto of “The right tree in the right place.”

The plan will serve as a guide to manage and grow the city's tree canopy, as well as a vision for the future of the urban forest. Its goal is to inspire residents to care, plant and protect trees.

The city said trees can enhance the beauty of homes, streets and neighborhoods, but if planted in the wrong place, they can become a hazard or a nuisance.

“We did a street tree inventory, we identified the possibility, Davey Resource Group and their certified arborists, identified a possibility of 8,000 current planting locations throughout the city of Worcester,” said Robert C. Antonelli, Jr., the city’s assistant DPW commissioner, at the city council meeting earlier this week. “We’re estimating we’d probably get about 50% of what that 8,000 is when all is said and done with infrastructure issues and all of that to plant the right tree in the right place.”

Included in the plan is the ability of residents to request a city-owned tree. The trees are planted in the spring and will be reviewed in the spring of the following year.

Public meetings to review the draft plan will take place next week on May 3 and 4.