Urban Tree Talk. Lessons From Abroad. Keith Sacre, Barcham Trees

Feb 2011. . Keith Sacre is a man who really understands trees, and shares his knowledge in a very constructive way. One request he has, is that all landscape designers and architects should work closely with Arboriculturalists when planting trees. Sacre gave a presentation on New York’s, Million Tree Campaign, which he was inspired to see following a talk by Matthew Wells, NYC Senior Forester. NY Council has committed to planting 220,000 new street trees by 2017, prioritising areas with few trees and with high rates of child asthma. Much of this will be funded by private and corporate money, due to the tax benefits enjoyed in the US by making donations to causes. One difference noticed by Sacre in NY as opposed to UK streets, is that utilities run under the road, not the pavements. This ensures that once a tree is planted in a pit, its roots should not be disturbed as much. He showed how UFORE (Urban Forest Effects Model) has translated street tree benefit into dollars. The 590,000 street trees currently in NYC equate to $122 in benefits per annum. This equates to a return of $209 per tree, and gives a $5 return per $1 invested.