Whilst it might not always seem like it, London is so packed with foliage that it’s technically a forest. That’s according to a United Nations definition that states that a forest is anywhere that’s at least 20 percent trees. London’s a respectable 21 percent.
Whilst it is no where comparable to the Amazon or Yosemite, London does have a massive 8.4 million trees, many of which are protected by law so can’t be cut down. The population of London as of today (October 2022) is 8.982 million — so we’re a little shy of one tree per person in England’s capital.
Wind back the clock a few centuries, and London was a smaller city surrounded by countryside, including hefty areas of woodland. South London’s Great North Wood (the reason for place names like Norwood and Forest Hill) once stretched from Croydon to Deptford. Moreover, what’s now Heathrow Airport was a plethora of wildlife in a majestic treescape of its own.
As London has developed, thankfully some ancient woodland remain: Highgate, Queens and Coldfall Woods in north London; Sydenham Hill, Oxleas and Lesnes Abbey in the south.
But it’s not just actual woodland that makes London a forest; it’s everything else. London has large amounts of trees and greenery mixed right into the centre of the metropolis e.g. Hyde Par or Regent’s Park. Furthermore, however, there’s the land around estates, private gardens, London’s squares that separate out the packed neighbourhoods and the greenery surrounding the edge of railway or road embankments. Not to mention the 900,000 of London street trees!
Trees soak up pollution: nitrogen oxides, ammonia and sulphur dioxide are absorbed through their leaves, bark and roots (important, for a city that’s swamped by toxic levels of the stuff). They’re also prizefighters in the battle to keep global warming at bay, absorbing carbon dioxide and turning it into carbon.
Trees and general greenery and natural foliage improve our mental well-being too. Experts say just two hours in nature every week can significantly increase both your mental and physical health. These small parks and trees dotted about allow this without the expensive get aways to Devon!
London’s forest standing really shows the collective good small patches of green can do altogether — making a massive ecosystem helping to support us mentally and physically.
About Us
Our name is Valuuti and we want to do some good in the world and help fight climate change.
We’re a small start-up brand with an important mission — help nature and fight climate change! Specifically, we want to work with endangered animal charities, plant trees, clean up beaches and start/aid carbon capture and other environmental regeneration projects.
We also want to increase awareness through our environmental blog — talking about important issues, environmental wins and Valuuti updates. Please follow us along for our journey!
In the next few months, we’re launching our sustainable clothing brand, each design linked to its own unique cause and charity. We’ll have:
- Tree hoodies that when purchased, a real tree will be planted.
- Elephant hoodies that support Elephant Conservation charities
- Other services that will fund climate projects and general ideas that do good.
Thank you for reading and we hope you follow our journey!
The Valuuti team
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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