“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit."
The benefits of planting native trees cannot be emphasised enough. The presence of trees in our locality protect and improve not just the physical environment and its biodiversity but also our own health and wellbeing.
As a passive by-product of their own lifecycle trees filter our air by removing particles that could otherwise exacerbate respiratory illnesses such as asthma. There is a growing body of evidence that is demonstrating the profound influence that being in the presence of trees can have on individuals, reducing markers of stress and improving a person’s sense of health, happiness and wellbeing.
Trees and forests growing in our shared environment also provide a plethora of ecosystem services, a term used to define the gains a society receives from the ecosystems it inhabits. Some of these gains from trees include the protection of our soils, the reduction in severity of flooding, the absorption of carbon, production of oxygen and provision of food and shelter for the floundering biodiversity in our country.
The 2021 tree planting initiative in the public park of the Wetlands Centre is supported by the Community Water Development Fund, as part of the Water Quality Enhancement Programme and we will be planting with the consideration of the vital role of trees in the global water cycle.
The canopy of a tree shelters the soil below from the extremities of the environment. The foliage acts as buffer taking energy out of driving rain and letting it roll slowly through to the forest floor to percolate into the substrata. This slower water cycle can make rainwater accessible to other plants and contribute to the replenishment of groundwater. In the absence of tree cover, torrential rain can strip soil from the land and wash it and its fertility into the local water catchment of contributing to dramatic rises in water and contribute to the siltation of our rivers adversely affecting their own ability to maintain good water quality.
