We All Love Trees, Don't We?

English: Whisby Nature Park The Natural World Centre and Wind Turbine from near the car park entrance (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This week  I went to a meeting of the local neighbourhood association. The topic was trees, and who cares for them. Although I've lived here for more than 20 years, this was the first time I went to a meeting. It was a tiny step of active reaching out to "belong" and get to know my neighbours- and a step into taking more notice of my local environment.

I was left with a lot of food for thought.

The topic could not have been better, trees, and some of the people who care for them locally. It was fascinating. There was a film from Nature  Guides with an A-Z of facts about Elms. And then the local people who look out for trees. I wish I had made
notes so that I could write more specifically!

It brought home the fact that trees need care, watering and protection, they need to be planted in the right place and to fit in with the local landscape. Planting a tree is a gesture of goodwill for future generations. Not immediate gratification. And if you don't imagine the tree at it's full height, people might have reason to complain. And that might be part of the explanation for the fact that not everyone loves trees...
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In fact, at this meeting, it was made clear that some people hate trees. Not the people at the meeting, but they reported the views of others who do positively hate trees!  Indeed I was shocked. Not caring, not noticing, I could understand, since I've been through that myself. But to hate them!. These were the reasons people quoted:-

They look untidy, cluttering the pavement.
They cause problems with their roots making the pavements lumpy.
They take up room, making the pavements hard to negotiate with a buggy or pram.
They make your house dark.

Now that I'm reconnecting with nature myself, slowly but surely, I realize how vital it is to a sense of well being, to be able to go out and enjoy a green space. Last night I briefly talked with a doctor about this. He was saying that he understands the value of the natural world for the well being of his patients.

Other people of course care a great deal. They tend to the trees, raising money to plant them, watering them, taking litter away, check applications to have a tree felled and raise objections.... They plan the best places for trees to be planted in parks. They lobby the council to protect them better, not always successfully, clearly.

First of all I'm offering to help with being a tree warden. I'd love to help people reconnect, or even connect for the first time, with the natural world so that everyone would love and appreciate trees.

The irony is that the tree in my own back garden- I think it will have to be felled. It was damaged by fire years ago, before my time, and it's getting more and more hollow. The tree surgeon said it had to come down by at least 50% in order to be safe.

Take it down, he said, and plant a fruit tree.  I know he's right. And if the application goes in to the council and they don't agree, then it is the council who is liable if anything should happen as a result of the tree coming down during a storm and damaging someone or something. I don't hate this damaged tree in my back garden, but I am responsible if it were to come down all of a sudden.

It was shocking to find out that some newly planted trees have been vandalized. Just broken off. It is one of those events that makes me go a bit numb. Some people are angry but I am numb. Why would anyone want to do that?

The word that came to me is alienation. I also read this week that children are becoming more detached from nature. For example only 10% of children walk to school, usually with an adult.

So if even I, a country woman born and bred, can end up out of touch with the natural world, is it so surprising that people who have never had that connection in the first place, see trees as slightly untidy objects cluttering up the place..? There is no point being mad at this attitude. Better try to understand it first and do a little bit towards changing attitudes.

Caring for something, a tree, a human being, or a community, does not mean being sentimental about it. It's a responsibility. It will be ironic if one of my first steps on the road to a greener lifestyle is to be someone who has a tree removed. But there are also trees to keep and maintain, and trees to plant,  and local people to meet.

I guess that living greener is not just about a single separate life. I wonder how do people influence the ones who don't care yet? Or is there a better question?

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