Urban trees undervalued, says study

Urban trees are the most undervalued and unappreciated, though they offer a lot of benefits, according to a study.

“We have been systematically wiping out the only significant tree cover in Bangalore,” said Dr Harini Nagendra, urban ecology co-ordinator at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), who undertook the study.

 “Most of the large trees in Bangalore were planted on wide roads. The metro and flyovers are being built on wide roads, and in doing so, we are cutting those trees that offer us some comfort,” the study said.

Despite promises of trees being replanted, most people fail to grasp the simple fact that some of the felled trees are at least 60 years old. While planting new trees are better than no trees at all, their value in terms of the canopy they offer, their strength and the bio-diversity they support are not taken into consideration.

 Urban trees, especially the large ones, provide a lot of comfort in terms of air-conditioning as well as filtering pollution from the air. The study also found that while Bangalore has a much lesser density of trees, there is a much greater variety.