Urban Tree Management Plans

El Official College of Forest Technical Engineers and Graduates in Forest and Natural Environment Engineering, informs us through a press release about the conference on urban tree stability in which gardening companies, local administrations, emergency services, various professional groups, forestry, botanists and experts in arboriculture participated, organized in the face of the failed management of trees that causes serious dangers to people and public goods.

Urban trees are a fundamental element of cities, such as lighting or streets, it requires adequate technical maintenance carried out by specialized professionals, free from political or circumstantial pressures and interests. Its proper management avoids risks for citizens.
For the Official College of Forest Technical Engineers and Graduates in Forest and Natural Environment Engineering, the conclusions of this day are:

1. Cities must have an Urban Tree Management Plan, both for road trees and for parks and gardens. This Plan must be the result of multidisciplinary work and with public participation. The master plan must have three parts: evaluation of the trees, action protocols for their conservation and proper maintenance, and risk and hazard management plans.

These plans must specify the criteria for:

• Choose the appropriate species according to environmental conditions, taking into account biodiversity, landscape, shapes, colors, smells, shades,..., associated fauna, identification of plants with the district/district,...
• Choice of plant according to standardized quality criteria.
• Follow planting criteria (planting distance between trees, buildings, depending on the width of the sidewalk, minimum dimensions of tree trees, use of tutors, tree cover,...) and maintenance with standardized protocols (type of irrigation, pruning,...)
• Pest and disease control with criteria that respect the tree and the environment.
• Rational use of water (drip irrigation), reclaimed water treated conveniently without polluting or accumulative elements.
• Periodic reviews of trees to avoid risky situations (inventory reviewed periodically), with adequate management of these data and easy access to them (PDA) (name, dimensions, vitality, irrigation, phytosanitary status, photographs,...
• Regulations for the protection of trees (aerial part and root) when public works are carried out, transplant regulations and other regulations relating to their specificity or degree of protection.
• Implement a certified management system that ensures compliance with the Tree Management plan

2. There are no tree risk management plans in most Spanish cities.

The Risk Management Plan must carry out: an inventory of the trees, establish risk areas, identify that risk, an evaluation, apply corrective measures and monitor them.

Experts point out three factors to be able to develop proper management of the environment: economic availability, technical capacity, involvement of other agents such as citizens, or the public administration itself, which takes contradictory measures without any connection between its different departments.

3. The problems of urban trees occur throughout the process: urban design, choice of species, planting and maintenance of them.

We demand a greater participation of specialized services in Parks and Gardens in the urban design of the city, since trees, parks and gardens are a fundamental element of new cities.

It is not possible that professionals specialized in parks and gardens are not involved in the design and choice of species that are planted in city streets and gardens. In too many municipalities, such as Madrid, this responsibility lies with Urban Planning Management.

4. It is essential that municipalities promote citizen participation in the management of parks and gardens and the rest of the urban trees. It is therefore necessary for municipalities to make an environmental communication and education effort that allows for such citizen participation and involvement. Greater involvement allows for better management.

5. Technical gardening standards must be included in the tender documents for the award of maintenance of garden areas. Service quality standards must be standardized in all cities and must include the correct execution of technical gardening standards.

6. Irrigation with recycled water represents great economic savings for municipalities and a great saving of a resource, sometimes, scarce. However, it cannot be used in the same way as drinking water since its chemical composition is very different and, therefore, its effects on soil and vegetation are very different. It has been demonstrated that the reclaimed water used in Madrid has high sodium and chloride contents, which are assimilated differently by plant species. In this regard, it has been demonstrated that the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid does not use reclaimed water due to the suspicion of its side effects. More studies need to be done, lists of species that may be affected by this new water, action protocols according to the circumstances of soils and species, and we need to improve management and the irrigation methods used.

7. As for the dangerousness of trees on city streets, the key question in the opinion of technicians is. What risks are we willing to take? Security must be the priority of technicians and policymakers.

8. The quality of green areas must prevail over their quantity. The stage of investing in having more green areas and trees has passed, it is time to invest in improving the quality of those areas, investing in management and maintenance.

9. Too often political interests take precedence over technical reports. All participants claimed the value of knowledge, science and experience as a tool for making decisions that affect the environment, green areas and, therefore, people's quality of life and health.

10. Outsourcing of garden services must be limited by law as a means of ensuring their quality. Successive outsourcing causes job insecurity, which, in turn, is detrimental to the quality of the service.

11. Comprehensive contracts that group together gardening and cleaning services should be limited. These are different jobs that require specialization. In addition, cleaning needs tend to prevail, which is detrimental to gardening, with inexperienced and poorly trained staff.