More information
Description
Introduction to the problem:
The city of Jablonec nad Nisou is losing trees. The loss of trees has been occurring for a long time in the number of several hundred trees per year. Mature trees have been disappearing from the city, while planting of new trees to compensate for the ecological damage caused by the felling is completely inadequate.
How will the project address these challenges?
- Developing online application for monitoring of felling, evaluation of the data
- Communication with local authorities
- Participation in administrative procedures on tree felling: investigations on-site with the authority and applicants for felling;
- Advocating for appropriate replacement planting if felling is necessary
- Cooperation with lawyers, other professionals and NGOs
- Informing on FB about the benefits of trees, selected cases of trees to be cut down
- Activation of people - call to join our "tree patrol"
- Organizing a small educational and cultural event - Festival of Trees.
What does the project plan to achieve?
The long term goal is to protect trees in the city - to prioritize long term care over cutting, or replacement planting adequate to the ecological damage caused.
Partial goals:
1. Raise awareness of the importance of trees in the city
2. Increase citizens'' awareness of the possibility to join us to protect the trees in the city
3. Get new collaborators and strengthen the cooperation with the local authorities
Who is expected to benefit from this project and how will they benefit?
Target groups + expected benefits:
1. owners of the trees - applicants for felling: informed about the importance of a long-term care of trees
2. online public - FB users, followers: increased awareness of the possibility to join us to protect the trees
3. public - visitors to the Tree festival: informed via a lecture of an arborist, new experience through an artistic performance related to the trees
4. local authorities - cooperation and mutual trust will be strengthened
Summary of project results
Thanks to the project, we received additional funding for our "tree" activities and thus partially strengthen our internal capacity (until then purely on volunteer
basis). At the same time, we have been able to systematize well the documents for the administrative procedures on tree felling and we are able to track down information in
a very short time for a specific tree that someone wants to cut down (= citizen control over possible illegal actions in felling without proper permission);
By organising the Festival of Trees we offered the public a close contact with trees and thus promoted the creation of a positive relationship with trees and increased
education - about the importance of trees, our "tree patrol" activities, and opportunities to get involved in administrative proceedings; We successfully advocated
for the designation of a prominent alley at the city''s dam as "significant landscape element (SLE)". We believe that gaining the status of a SLE will increase the appeal
for finding solutions to create better habitat conditions for the trees in this alley, which will require a comprehensive solution for the entirety of one bank of the dam.
In the context of participation in administrative proceedings, we have been successful in increasing the extent of replacement planting imposed for felled trees and
in familiarising participants with the Agency for Nature and Landscape Conservation methodology - a tool for quantifying the value of trees and the ecological damage
caused by their felling.