The election results were surprising in some parts of Spain, but not in others. In Madrid, for example, it was seen that People’s Party will be repeated both in the city council and at the regional level. Now it’s time to see if they will keep the promised measures and, why not?, to analyze their effectiveness. For example, one of the points of the party’s election program at the local level is striking: a promise to imprison 500,000 trees. That there were about 343 trees a day for 4 years of the legislature.
This measure, taken at the same time as Isabel Diaz Ayuso’s promise that every citizen of Madrid could plant on your balconysurprising considering the number of trees that have been given the green light to cut down in the city.
A good example of this is madrid riverwhere more than 200 trees were allowed to be cut down for expansion metro line 11. Obviously, 500,000 is a lot more than 200. But does that make sense? Will this measure, which should be implemented after the election results, be useful? Let’s start from the very beginning.
Why are there trees in the city?
Trees are often called the lungs of the place where they grow. The Amazon is the lungs of the world, parks are the lungs of cities, and Retiro and Madrid-Rio will be the lungs of Madrid.
This metaphor refers to the fact that plants release oxygen as they grow. photosynthesis. But that’s not all, they also capture carbon dioxide.
Therefore, there are two pluses. On the one hand, it is true that this oxygen helps make the air breathable for other living beings. But they also act like carbon dioxide reserves. That is, they capture this greenhouse gas from the atmosphere and keep it inside as they use it to produce the components and nutrients they need to survive.
This applies to all plants. But apparently a geranium is not the same as a sequoia. How much more big Whatever the plant, the more oxygen it releases and the more carbon dioxide it stores.
What can we expect after the election results?
Just as a geranium is not the same as a sequoia, so a newly planted tree cannot compare to a much larger tree that has stood in one place for years. For this reason, although it is a good idea to plant new trees if they are native species, they should not be done to replace others that have been cut down.
Ideal is add more trees to the existing ones or use them to replace those that were lost due to fires or any natural disasters. In that case, yes, that’s a good idea. If not, then it won’t make much sense.
In addition, according to a 2017 study, we are already at a stage where trees can do little to preserve the atmosphere. To capture enough carbon dioxide, it would be necessary to destroy a large number of crop areas. For this reason, we must rely on other measures and, of course, on don’t remove trees that were already there.
And one more thing. Trees in cities are very useful for avoid overheating asphalt or cars, for example. This, again, is achieved by large trees providing plenty of shade. Newly planted trees don’t work in this regard either. All this, in addition, not forgetting that it is not so easy to plant 343 trees a day.
It’s also good for mental health
Finally, we must not forget that the exercises in parkland or simply going through them can bring us many benefits for our mental health. The new trees that will be planted after the election results, if promised, will become green spaces in the future. But they aren’t there yet.
Therefore, in order to take care of the mental health of the inhabitants of the city, it is necessary to take care of preserving the already existing green areas. It’s about taking care of the city’s lungs to, in turn, take care of our minds. This is the power of the trees, but not the geraniums on the balconies.
Source: Hiper Textual
