The city dwellers encouraging everyone to turn over a new leaf, plant trees and reap the benefits of green streets

When Bernadette Russell takes a walk among the young walnut trees near her home in inner-city Deptford, she calls it her ‘forest time’. Like many of her south-east London neighbours, Bernadette admires the smooth olive-brown bark and the crushed leaves that smell of polish, but she can also revel in the fact these are ‘her trees’.

In 2018, she planted 12 with the help of Trees for Cities, a UK charity dedicated to greening up the grey with urban trees. Now, as a volunteer supervisor for the organisation, she can lay claim to 27,000 such plantings across the capital.

‘When you plant a tree, you’re creating a moment for people to enjoy and take ownership of nature, and also connect with one another,’ says Bernadette, who is part of a sprawling canopy of environmental campaigners and organisations bringing urban forests to the concrete jungle. They view trees as air conditioners, water filterers, crime stoppers and as powerful tools for community wellbeing and sustainability. And with estimates suggesting that 68 per cent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas by 2050, the establishment of healthy green areas is becoming a central component in urban planning.

Feel-good factor 

It’s widely accepted that people feel better around nature. A Danish review of more than 130 studies shows exposure to woodland can significantly reduce levels of physical and emotional stress. But it wasn’t until last year that research by the University of Wollongong (UOW) in New South Wales, Australia, found that people in urban areas had a lower risk of developing psychological distress if they had more trees within walking distance of their homes. UOW professor Xiaoqi Feng suggests this is because ‘green, leafy trees can provide sensory relief in areas dominated by hard surfaces’ and that ‘vibrant colours, natural textures and fresh aromas all provide distraction and relief’ from our stressors.