I have known the two flowering trees Amaltash
or Golden Shower and Gulmohar or Royal Poinciana since my childhood. These
trees were planted on either sides of the roads of Mahanagar in Lucknow, and we
have been enjoying their beauty and their shade since childhood. When Amaltash
is in full bloom you can hardly see any leaves......only a tree decked in golden
yellow showering the flowers generously over you as you walk under their shade.
In about six weeks these flowers will disappear and long legumes with seeds
will take their place!
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| Amaltash or Golden Shower |
In some localities Gulmohar was the
predominant species and the earth would be ablaze with red and the sky would
stoop down to encircle the flames with the calm of blue. Streets were lined by
these two varieties of trees and many of them still exist and enchant us.
Walking to school under their shade on a carpet of red and yellow flowers is a
childhood memory that will never leave me. Even today morning walk below the
flowering Amaltash or Golden Shower tree is absolutely divine! Their pendulous
inflorescence of mild scented yellow flowers and legumes are seen dangling from
their branches in the hot summer months of April and May.
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| Mango tree in our backyard |
In our home my father had planted trees of
mango, custard apple, Guava, Lemon, Ashok and Neem. We have spent the best part
of our childhood on their branches and in their shade. Our farm has a Mango
orchard, a bordering of row of Poplar trees, two Jackfruit (Kathal) trees, 20
Indian Gooseberry (Amla) trees, and one banyan and one Neem tree.
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| Jacaranda lining the streets in Australia |
When I stayed in Australia I was introduced
to their blue cousin Jacaranda. These trees laden with blue inflorescence would
line up on either side of King William Street in Fitzroy, where I stayed.
Amaltash is the national flower of Thailand
and the state flower of Kerala, God's own country. Gulmohar tree is a native of
Madascar but is widely seen all over India. It, like Amaltash, is gifted with
many medicinal properties. It can be used as antibacterial, anti-inflammatory,
antifungal, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antimalarial, gastro-protective,
cardio-protective along with wound healing properties. It is a popular belief
is that when Jesus was crucified, his blood was shed on the flowers of the
Royal Poinciana tree in the vicinity, which gave its flowers that vivid scarlet
colour.
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| Gulmohar in full bloom |
These trees are so vital to our cityscape that
they are one of the reason why this part of the city is considered most
livable! It is a pity that the living canvas of colours these trees paint, are
largely disregarded by us. We cut then down mercilessly to broaden roads for
more cars and create concrete living spaces for more humans.
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| Students protesting against tree felling |
Delhi lost around 112,000
trees between 2005 to 2017, largely to road construction. Mumbai’s old
trees have borne the brunt of new development in the booming city, including
road widening, transport projects, and housing construction. The new subway
alone is destroying or damaging 5,000 trees, from hundreds of old street trees
in the dense parts of the historic island city to more than 2,000 trees in a
mini-forest in suburban Aarey Colony, where a rail car shed is to be built. In
Bangalore, a historically green city that has become a traffic nightmare as its
economy has grown, residents formed a human chain in May when they
found 25 large flowering trees felled overnight to make street-side billboards
more visible. The Faizabad Road from Lucknow to Ayodhya, Gorakhpur and further
east was widened to accommodate more fast moving traffic at the expense of
countless trees!
In the British city of Sheffield, where
officials planned to fell 17,000 trees to improve roads and footpaths,
residents recently staged mass rallies, hugged trees to prevent them from being
cut, and, in some cases, were arrested by police. Despite the protests, the
city cut down more than 5,000 trees.
Look at the difference
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| Cherry Blossom trees in Tokyo, Japan |
Our disregard for these beautiful flowering trees and many fruit bearing trees like mango and jamun (black Java plum) in in sharp contrast to the near devotional status accorded to the Cherry Blossom trees in Japan whose seasonal blossoming is an efflorescence of almost mystical enrapture, drawing visitors from all over the world! The autumn fall in America’s North Atlantic coast is breathtaking with embers of brilliant red and brown and it attracts tourists from everywhere to witness the changing colours of the palette of nature.
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| The mesmerizing colours of fall in Vermont |
Trees are majestic and we need to appreciate that.
The word ‘tree’ is derived from the old English ‘terow’ which means trust and
promise. That is exactly what trees are; they are repositories of faith, living
places of worship, mare not of stone and bricks but of sap, roots, leaves and
flowers. No wonder Gautama Buddha attained Nirvana
sitting under a Bodhi tree!
Why We Need Trees for our Cities
Many cities and urban communities around the
world are beginning to make improving their “green infrastructure” a priority
because they understand how vital trees are. Trees provide benefits that
improve the quality of city life, making urban environments more livable and sustainable
for everyone. Trees also help mitigate the negative outcomes that come with the
modernization of facilities, businesses and services in our communities, such
as pollution, heat and density. But most importantly trees can actually produce
positive returns for the economy, especially when they are well taken care of.
Acting as the “lungs” of growing cities
across the world, here are the reasons why we need trees in the urban
landscape:
1.
Trees
make cities more visually appealing.
Urban trees provide an aesthetic touch to our
streetscape. By adding colour to grey spaces and separating various urban
fabric elements (meaning pedestrians, motorists, buildings, parking lots, etc.)
from one another, they transform busy cities into more harmonious and pleasing
environments. Healthy
trees are aesthetically pleasing. They create variations in color, texture, and
height in the visual landscape. Their beauty can be a tourist draw, whether
it’s bright autumnal foliage in Vermont or the gorgeous spring cherry blossoms
in Japan.
2.
Trees
improve air quality in cities.
With growing populations and advancing
industrialization, air pollution is an unavoidable problem in
developing cities. Fortunately, trees can minimize the toxic levels of air by
drawing out carbon dioxide. A mature tree alone can absorb up to 48 pounds of
carbon dioxide, while trees within street proximity absorb 9 times more
pollutants than those planted far from each other. Research also shows that
ozone is improved by 3% to 7% every time urban tree canopy increases
by 10%.
3.
Trees
create a cooling effect.
Trees lower the temperature in urban areas.
They offer shade, large canopies like a parasol. They also release water vapor
into the air, which is why the shade beneath a tree is often fresher than shade
beneath a patio umbrella. Concrete streets, parking lots and asphalt buildings
can increase urban temperature by around 3-7 degrees. By transpiring water and
providing shade, trees are known to reduce this heat and create a cooling
effect on local temperatures. With proper urban street tree planting, an
average household in the city can also save around 15% to 35% off their energy
bills.
4. Trees clean the air we breathe
Trees are our biggest tool in the struggle to
lower atmospheric carbon dioxide and mitigate climate change. By adding oxygen and removing carbon dioxide,
the trees help us breathe. Trees help manage air quality by reducing
particulate and absorbing gases. A large healthy tree can remove 3.5 lbs
of pollutants in one year. A single tree can have 5 acres worth of surfaces
when calculating all the leaves and branches. The tree’s surfaces capture
and settle particulate moving by on wind currents. When it rains, the
channelization of water along branches and in bark helping wash this particulate
to the ground, where it is filtered by soil and other plants.
Our Jackfruit tree
5.
Trees
provide health benefits to citizens.
With their capacity to protect people from pollution and
harsh weather, trees are helpful to those who are suffering from asthma, skin
cancer, hypertension and other stress-related sicknesses. Trees can also
address noise pollution issues that bother most people living in
cities. Each mature tree can reduce unwanted noise by up to 6 decibels, while a
vertical wall of trees serves as a buffer to loud street sounds. Trees create walk appeal. Where space is
beautiful and safe, people are more likely to be active, including walking
or riding a bicycle. In this way, trees encourage healthy lifestyles. Lower air pollution also is a likely
contributor of good health.
6. Trees improve the mental health of
citizens
Being surrounded by trees lowers the level of
stress hormones (cortisol) in our brains. Through their calming influence and
therapeutic effect, they reduce the risk of stress and anxiety in a population.
7. Trees allow cities to save costs.
A research performed in the U.K. by Natural
England reported that every £1 spent on tree planting yielded £7
savings – which equated over £2.1 billion, if taken nationally. This is
because, throughout their lifetimes, trees provide tangible benefits twice the
amount invested into planting and caring for them. Such benefits can range from
climate change mitigation, ecosystems conservation, disaster prevention,
livelihood improvement and sustainable infrastructures.
8. Trees improve economic health of
people.
People who walk or ride through their
community spend more time on the street. Perhaps this explains
why pedestrians and cyclists spend more at local
businesses. They’re not quickly moving past, and have more reasons to be
drawn in. In
some neighborhoods, this savings may be offset by housing charges but in others
it leads to increased local retail profitability.
In urban environments, the local climate
control of trees lowering both heating and cooling requirements helps prevent
energy use. Creating a healthier microclimate helps lower the overall
energy requirement of the city.
9.
Trees
drive the values of properties up.
By providing a more pleasant and safer
environment, surrounding trees increase property values by an average of 5% to
20%. According to professional realtors, street trees also add more value to
adjacent houses and businesses than non-street trees.
10. Trees enable cities to acquire a community
identity.
Many neighborhoods, buildings, or developments
in the western countries are named for their trees. Common place names such as
Oakridge, Elmvale, Maple Grove celebrate the effect of local trees on creating
a sense of identity for that place.
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| Our Mango orchard |
11. Trees enable cities to manage their
stormwater better.
A massive portion of our cities’ ground
surface is composed of impermeable materials that don’t effectively absorb
water and mitigate flooding. Each mature and healthy tree, however, is
capable of absorbing up to 450 litres of water through its roots. In addition,
trees effectively prevent storm water (which might contain harmful
chemicals) from reaching water courses.
12. Trees help biodiversity
Trees also help promote regional
biodiversity. Birds, butterflies, squirrels, chipmunks, invertebrates and other
local fauna require the habitat and sanctuary provided by trees. The tree’s
ability to help prevent soil erosion can also help maintain understory
vegetation. Improving and maintaining biodiversity is necessary for a
sustainable city.
13. Trees help streamline traffic and calm drivers
Trees help with safe road design. They’re
proven to slow average driving speeds. On medians, they reduce the chance
of head-on crashes. A row of trees can also provide clear demarcation of
pedestrian zones, creating a visual wall that helps keep drivers on the
roadway.
Trees have a calming effect on drivers
Green Infrastructure
Green infrastructure protects life below
water and life on land, while promoting sustainability. The ability of trees to
reduce the pollution in the waterways is beneficial to human health and
well-being. Trees are considered “decentralized green infrastructure” and can
be important tools for managing water, especially in an urban ecosystem. Water
runoff is a serious issue in the city environment, as runoff can increase the
exposure to pollution and cause property damage. Trees can help reduce and
intercept stormwater and improve the quality of runoff water. With less contact
on impervious surfaces, stormwater is cooler and has fewer pollutants when it
enters local waterways and water-related ecosystems. Trees can also be valuable
in phytoremediation, where they can remove heavy metals and other contaminants
from the environment. While gray infrastructure depreciates over time, trees
appreciate in value as they mature. Investing in trees will result in sustainable
cities with happier and healthier people.
Problems Trees in an Urban Environment Face:
An urban tree’s lifespan is significantly
shorter than one found in a forest. Why? Short answer is ‘we humans’. Other
causes are:
- They
do not have other trees nearby to share nutrients with
- They
do not have other trees to protect them from wind and sun
- Their
soil is contaminated with byproduct of cities; chemicals, paint, chlorine
- They
have limited area to grow due to streets, sidewalks, power lines, and
driveways
- They
experience root disturbance from plumbing, construction, or trenching
- Temperatures
in a city is higher due to concrete and less shade from other trees
- The
suffer electrical fires from nearby electric wires
These stressors impact the trees quality of
life and because of this urban trees need extra assistance from humans to
correct these manmade problems they would not run into if they were in a
forest.
An unfortunate and sad tree in urban environment
As cities grow with more buildings and
traffic, we need more trees, not less. City trees provide a host of functions —
absorbing carbon dioxide, filtering pollution, cooling the air, shading
pedestrians from sun and rain, slowing down floods, and nurturing wildlife. On
crowded Indian streets, large old trees are used as niches for rest or small
commerce, providing a shady spot for a cobbler or coconut-seller. In dense
neighbourhoods, green canopies muffle noise and give apartments privacy. In hot
weather countries shade from trees makes streets tolerable. I have known this
since my childhood days when I would walk on the red and yellow flower covered
streets under the shade of Gulmohar and Amaltash from home to school and back.
Once home, I have spent hours playing in the shade and in the branches of mango
and guava trees in our garden.
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| Our mango tree at home, a responsible and loving member of our family |
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