The City of Cape Town\u2019s Parks and Recreation Department has announced that it is planning a ‘tree census’ – a plan to count of all trees in the city.<\/p>\n
The city said that the census will help determine whether Cape Town can be classed as an \u2018urban forest\u2019 – which is an urban area with a tree cover of more than 10% – and it will also allow for a tree inventory detailing the location and condition of trees.<\/p>\n
This will help determine how many trees need to be planted to help offset the city\u2019s carbon emissions, the city said.<\/p>\n
Aside from the environmental benefits, the city also noted that the aesthetic beauty of trees can also have an impact on the value of property – increasing potential prices by between 5% and 15%.<\/strong><\/p>\n “We have had to revisit our approach to Arbor Month, specifically because of the drought and the realisation that we live in a water-scarce region,” said the city\u2019s mayoral committee member for safety and security, Alderman JP Smith.<\/p>\n “So the days of large-scale planting are over. Now, it\u2019s a case of planting smartly and taking better care of our existing trees.”<\/p>\n Alderman said that some of the benefits of planting trees and caring for them appropriately include:<\/p>\n “We\u2019ve moved from Arbor Day to Arbor Week to Arbor Month; this is a signal of just how important this issue is and should be to each and every one of us,” he said.<\/p>\n “The city calls on Capetonians to help preserve this precious resource and to support tree planting while remaining mindful of our limited water resources.”<\/p>\n\n
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