Urban trees can help reduce the temperature in cities

Ella Humphreys is one of our coordinators in Australia. She joined our community recently and has been very active in planting trees in her vicinity.

Ella has also been working with us to write educational articles. Did you read last week’s article about flying foxes?

Last month, Ella planted some trees in honor of our little flying mammals. In her own words, the trees were “dedicated to the mega-bats and the micro-bats of the world, the health of the world’s forests, and the happiness of all sentient beings”.

There are three species of flying foxes camping in the small Lorikeet Street Reserve.

“Scott and I planted the trees and shrubs underneath established taller trees. It is my hope that creating an understory will help bring the temperature down so the flying foxes have a cool place to camp in hot weather”, Ella shares.

It is known that urban parks and gardens where trees thrive present lower temperatures than adjacent areas with no trees. Urban elements like buildings and asphalt roads absorb a lot of the heat coming from the sun, increasing local temperatures. This is known as the Urban Heat Isle Effect. Urban greening reduces this effect and helps reduce pollution levels within cities.

Thank you for sharing what you’re up to with us, Ella! And thank you for passionately helping protect the bats.