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‘Cities need Lungs!’ Cities need Lungs! A new worldwide initiative by ‘Trees for Cities’ charity is to promote the planting of trees in cities to help fight against global warming, starting with planting a tree in London, Manchester, Madrid, Bucharest and Addis Ababa, as part of the first phase of the project to be launched in a bid to transform 20 cities around the world over the next five years. Graham Simmonds, chief executive of Trees for Cities, said: "The onset of global warming is the most serious issue facing today's generation.” It is reported that in each city, partnerships are in place with local community organisations and city councils to ensure that a programme of tree planting combined with community and school educational activities can be delivered. Links are also being developed with potential partners in New York, Dubai and Helsinki. Trees are not only beautiful, they are mega anti-pollutant living machines and ‘key’ to absorbing carbon and other pollutants generated in cities. The importance of tree planting becomes clear in a survey in New York of only 322 city trees the uptake of pollutants by them from the air was 145 tons! London’s carbon emissions are around 50 million tons each year. Apart from offering habitats to many fast disappearing birds and insects, noise pollution is also reduced by 6-8 decibels for every 30 metres of woodland belt. The aim of ‘Trees for Cities’ is to “generate a greening renaissance in cities around the world.”
COMMENT: Are you Listening Mr Prescott? It is to be hoped that wherever ‘new build’ emerges, in and around towns and cities and on industrial estates everywhere strategy for planting trees will have a place of importance in the plans. There has not been such emphasis on Trees in the news since the National Tree Planting Year 1973 with its slogan: ‘Plant a Tree in ‘73’, a countrywide campaign to offset the dramatic loss of trees from Dutch Elm Disease, which led to the founding in 1974 of the Tree Council to bring together organisations working for trees. The WWII song’s line, “I thought that I should never see a thing as lovely as a tree” should remind us that it is not only in areas where buildings are going up, but where buildings are being destroyed that the planting of trees matter as a thing of beauty, but also to heal the atmosphere post-war. Devastating bombs and ensuing fires are not selective; trees are not exempt from destruction.
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