Trees - Question of Cities

How urban plans can, and must, value trees

Urban development plans and master plans have traditionally seen trees as impediments to ‘development’, rarely acknowledging them as natural wealth of cities and hardly making provisions to protect and preserve them. This will no longer work in the time of…

Bad news for Earth: Hot leaves can’t catch carbon from air

Leafy canopies play a crucial role in regulating the global climate – and mitigating global warming. But, as a recent study shows,…

Guwahati is fast axing its trees and undermining its future

Among Assam’s largest cities, Guwahati has turned into a huge construction site with a dwindling tree cover. The city lost 12 square…

‘Cutting trees has become as routine as buying stamps at post office’

Call them tree warriors or green crusaders. They are fighting the tough battle in cities across India – Dehradun, Delhi, Bengaluru –…

Walking with the trees of Mumbai, their fragrance and taste in tow

The Mahua tree helped Indians survive two famines, the imported – yes, imported – Gulmohar has buttress roots that grow at right…

When did we last hear what trees are telling us?

Trees are service providers to us, they perform necessary ecological functions, and they are among sturdy climate warriors there can be in…

A community of trees as a social network of greens

While a single tree, especially old and heritage ones like the khirni tree in Delhi or the Baobab in Mumbai’s Bandra, is…

Walking for trees, for the love of trees, in Thiruvananthapuram

A botanist’s daughter and early tree activist tells the story of starting the Tree Walk to preserve the city’s green heritage. Alongside more than 100 walks since 2012, Tree Walk has evolved into a multi-pronged action group. It sees trees…

Tree warriors of Thane and Navi Mumbai on their toes

Activists and environmentalists in these cities, off the Mumbai harbour, have intensified their fight to save trees from being cut for construction…

Tree lessons from the world for sustainable cities

From the Library of Trees in Milan to the Master Plan for Barcelona’s trees 2017-2037 at the centre of local policies, from…