Hi! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and welcome back. Today's post is all about trees. But not just any trees- urban trees! Those colourful tall things that brighten up our city streets? Yep!
First of all, even if you live in the most rural area possible, this still applies to you! It's just that I wanted to put the emphasis on trees in cities and the amazing things they do for our wellbeing. I'm going to split this post into three sections: the benefits of urban trees, the threats to urban trees and what you can do to protect them! So let's get started!
Right. The benefits of Urban Trees- where should I even start? They have a positive effect on our mental health and general wellbeing (it's scientifically proven!) and can make us feel better about ourselves. So don't be shy! Get out there and hug a tree! I promise you will feel better afterwards. They also provide necessary shelter for the birds and other wildlife- such as fungi, moss and lichens- that depend on them. And lastly, they clean our air; sucking in harmful carbon dioxide and replacing it with fresh oxygen. This is why cutting down trees is so bad- all the carbon dioxide that has been stored inside them from centuries of air-purifying are released.
Next, the threats to Urban Trees. I'm not gonna lie- there's lot of them. The human ones are perhaps the most dangerous: clearing areas of forest to make way for shopping centres, high levels of pollution, pesticides, climate change.. The list goes on and on. Then there's the pests and diseases that can befall our precious ecosystems. Urban Trees, like any Trees, must learn to be resilient.
Finally, what we can do to protect Urban Trees. First things first: just notice. Sit back and watch, look up on your way to school. I promise you that you will start to notice things you could never have imagined. You are probably wondering what on earth this could have to do with protecting Urban Trees, but we can't protect something without first truly appreciating it. So I'm encouraging you to take your time and look up before you decide what you can do. Play to your strengths! I have recently become a member of the Trees For Cities Youth Panel, and one thing they have asked me to do is put a poster on my favourite urban tree, encouraging people to look up. (if you are interested, that is what my next post will be about). They also sent me some interesting links, which I will put on here:
https://www.treesforcities.org/our-work/schools-programme/planting-healthy-air-in-schools-1
https://www.treesforcities.org/stories/quiz-page
https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/environment/parks-green-spaces-and-biodiversity/trees-and-woodlands/london-tree-map
https://www.london.gov.uk/city-hall-blog/top-six-things-you-didnt-know-about-londons-trees
I hope you have enjoyed reading this and have been inspired to protect and care for your local trees!
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