The national tree-planting charity, Treesforcities, gives us 10 reasons to plant more trees.
SHIFT says “No, these are 10 reasons to make sure we keep the trees we’ve already got!”
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They produce oxygen
This is most important of all in densely populated and polluted areas like cities, where average oxygen levels are expected to be at least 6% lower.
SHIFT says: “You’d need to plant 120 saplings to make up for the loss of one mature tree.”
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Sequester and store carbon
In a year, a single mature tree can absorb up to 48 pounds of carbon dioxide.
SHIFT says: “We haven’t got time to wait for young saplings to do the same job as these mature trees.”
3. They support the management of air pollution
On a grand scale, trees do something called deposition, which is the removal of a small fraction of some air pollutants through capture onto leaf surfaces, but when we’re talking about urban environments… it’s more about how they affect airflow.
SHIFT says: “When it comes to airflow what sort of tree will have the most impact – a large canopy London Plane or a newly planted silver birch sapling?
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Support urban flood risk management
A single mature, leafy tree can absorb up to 450 litres of water through its roots every day, as well as capture rainwater on the surface of its leaves. Their roots also reduce soil erosion in the ground and slow the filtration of water into our cities’ drainage networks.
SHIFT says: “Notice that the reference is once again to the benefits of the mature tree, not the newly planted sapling.”
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They’re keeping things cool
Trees also release water vapour through evapotranspiration from their leaves, which produces a cooling effect. They also provide shade for the ground and buildings, resulting in further cooling and less energy usage. This cooling helps against the urban heat island effect…
The overall cooling effect of a single, mature tree an average is equivalent to 10 air conditioning units running for 20 hours in a day.
SHIFT says: “Yes, praise again for the MATURE tree!”
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A helping hand for wildlife
Trees also provide a source of food and habitat to a plethora of other species in our urban environments – bats, birds, badgers, insects, other plants, fungi and mosses, to name a few!
SHIFT says: “Have you ever seen a bird nesting in a spindly sapling?”
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They’re good for our mental health and wellbeing
Trees also help us with our ability to cope mentally with life in an artificial urban environment.
Being around nature, specifically trees, has been shown to reduce the levels of cortisol in our brains… lowering it can help to reduce the symptoms of anxiety and stress.
SHIFT says: “The bigger the tree the greater its impact on human health and wellbeing”
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Our urban trees are getting old
Most of the beautiful, mature trees we see in our cities today were planted as long as 100 years ago… it takes a long time for a tree to reach maturity… so …we must keep planting more, and protecting the ones we do have.
SHIFT says: “Common sense at last!”
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Everyone’s heading to the cities
84% of the UK are now living in urbanised environments and there could be another 2.5 billion people in urban populations by the year 2050.
SHIFT says: “So for most people street trees are the only trees they will see in their daily lives.”
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Because we love them
Trees have been part of the natural landscape since humans evolved on Earth. We have a deep, innate desire to be around them.
SHIFT agrees
