Photo: Martin Godwin/The Guardian.
Residents in Tottenham, north London, with a tree sponsored through Trees for Streets. “City residents are working out how to fill their streets with trees as evidence grows of their benefits,” says the Guardian.
Can you bear another story about planting trees to beautify and bring warming temperatures down in neighborhoods?
Although really in-depth biodiversity efforts go further (read about Miyawaki urban forests here), street plantings are important, too. Each time I read about another community organizing to plant trees, I want to share the news.
Olivia Lee writes at the Guardian, ” ‘I wanted to do something that would benefit as many people from the community as possible,’ says Chloe Straw, pointing at a small but promising sapling visible through the window of her local cafe.
“In 2023, Chloe began chatting to her neighbors in Haringey, north London, about trees. ‘I thought it’d be really nice to raise some money for trees on the main road. Everyone uses West Green Road, regardless of whether you have a lot of money or not, regardless of your background.’
“After getting in touch with Trees for Streets, a sponsorship scheme that guides communities across England on how to plant trees in their local areas with support from local councils, a small group was formed to work out how to do it. As a first step, Straw and friends were provided with an interactive map to choose the location of the trees, and that was passed along to Haringey council.
“Then they got help to set up a crowdfunding campaign, which was shared in local WhatsApp groups and community forums, secured 168 backers and raised more than £6,000 [$8,000] in one month.
“Mohamed Eljaouhari, a co-chair of Haringey Living Streets, said [of WhatsApp], ‘It is a very powerful tool for getting a very simple message out very quickly to a lot of people. I got in contact with, like, a thousand people in a few minutes, because I forwarded on the message with a bit of an explanation to a local group here, a local group there, people who were interested in the environment and maybe wanted to help West Green.’
“The remaining costs were covered by Haringey council. The result? Twenty beautiful trees planted across the neighborhood. …
“Around the world, city residents are working out how to fill their streets with trees as evidence grows of their benefits. As temperatures rise, research has shown that urban trees can play a fundamental role in keeping cities cool, evaporating water to provide a natural form of air-conditioning, cooling air temperatures and reducing the urban heat island effect. Work by Friends of the Earth in five English cities in 2023 showed that areas with more trees and greenery were up to 5C cooler. …
“Public funds are stretched everywhere, and the community model followed by Trees for Streets empowers local people to take their own action without waiting for a government plan.
“The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) is a non-profit organization in Philadelphia that trains individuals to lead community groups to plant trees across the US city. So far their program, Tree Tenders, has trained more than 6,500 people, who have led volunteers in planting more than 3,000 trees each year.
“[Andrew Conboy, an urban forester in Philadelphia, says,] ‘There’s a heavy emphasis on native species here in the Philadelphia area, which is good thing because the native species are ultimately better for our wildlife and for our ecosystems, because those are the species that evolved here.’ …
“The Garden City Fund, a charity in Singapore, runs a similar initiative, the Plant-a-Tree program. Individuals and organizations can donate to the cost of a young tree and then plant it in one of their managed green spaces.
“Tree People, an environmental advocacy organization, runs a forestry program that supports communities to plant and care for trees in cities in southern California. The organization also runs the School Greening program, which provides training to parents, students, teachers and district leaders to plant and maintain trees in schools. …
“As the West Green residents take turns discussing their local initiative over cups of coffee, it’s clear that one of the most significant impacts the project has had is in strengthening connections within the community. …
“[Says Dan Snell, an urban forest officer at Haringey council,] ‘There was another tree scheme on my mum’s street who lives in Haringey … suddenly there were all these new street trees and my mum had met a load of neighbors that she hadn’t really met before, even though she’s been there for 30 years. It’s had this really lovely long-term effect on bringing the street together.’ It’s such a wonderful thing to connect over.’ “
Plant a tree, make a friend. More at the Guardian, here. No paywall.
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