New York City now is greener than everyone expects it to be. The city now has 20% more trees than a decade ago. The 2005-2006 tree census was a result of the hard work of over a thousand volunteers who toiled the city counting trees. The results speak for themselves, over 100,000 more trees were found shading city pavements than there were a decade ago.
Evidently the residents have bought into the plausible stats of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service. According to department’s analysis, every dollar spent on planting a tree fetches five greenbacks in return. How so? Well, the energy savings from natural air cooling and insulation are more than enough to justify the returns. Add to that reduction in carbon dioxide, and an appreciation in the property prices in the vicinity, and the returns become even more evident.
The city’s administration has not yet completed their project and wants to see another million trees planted in the next decade. If we go on counting every single tree present in New York the number would be a healthy 5.2 million or a 24% canopy cover. To make the future plans a success $250 million have been allocated towards the City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s long term plan to have 1 million new trees planted by 2017.
Hat’s off to you New York!
Via: Tree Hugger
