Published Article

HeadlineIslington residents wanted for tree warden roles to make borough greener

Short HeadlineIslington residents wanted for tree warden roles

StandfirstIslington council wants to empower locals to have a role in its attempts to become more environmentally friendly.

As part of the Islington Together festival, Islington council has launched a tree warden recruitment programme.

Trained tree wardens will look for damage in trees, as well as searching for suitable areas to plant new ones.

The goal is to eventually have a warden on every estate across the north London borough.

They hope to soon plant a minimum of 430 trees a year.

But why trees?

Planting trees is one of the best, and most natural, ways of absorbing carbon.

High carbon levels have attributed to the rise in global temperatures.

Trees also offer increased protection from floods as their roots soak up water.

A local view from Islington

One local, Chris, can’t wait to sign up to be a tree-warden. “I hope that through the tree warden scheme, I will learn more about the nature in front of me.

“When I come back here in 30 years time, those trees will still be there. And if there’s one I’ve planted, I’ll be enriched.”

He’s particularly excited at the council’s pledge to increase the green canopy cover from trees to 30% by 2050. It currently stands at 25%.

“Climate change is an emergency and we all know that. We are going to need those trees.”

While Mark, another local, shared Chris’s praise for the scheme, he was unsure if he’d have the time to become a tree warden.

“I have other things to do. My time is taken up with lots of small projects of my own. I don’t want to add another one to it.”

As the borough with the lowest number of parks in central London, Islington has more to do if it is to help the UK to become carbon neutral.

The current aim is for the country to reach net zero emissions by 2050.