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Description
With this project, we want to raise the standard of greenery maintenance services in the Świeradów-Zdrój municipality and increase the residents'' awareness of the role of trees, also in the context of climate change. The immediate reason for this intervention is the renovation of the spa centre of Czerniawa-Zdrój planned by the municipal authorities. We are concerned about the negative impact of the investment on the tree stand in this area. Our objection is also raised by the annual felling of trees in the spa parks in Świeradów-Zdrój. As part of the project, we will carry out a dendrological inventory in the two spa areas of the municipality. We will provide the collected data to the mayor and the conservation officer. We will also make them available on the tree information portal checktrees.com. In this way, we want to reduce unnecessary tree felling and also improve the maintenance work. We will publish an information booklet for residents with practical information about trees on municipal and private property. We will also place two information boards in the inventoried areas about the functions of trees. We will conduct workshops with children in kindergartens and primary schools in the municipality and run a competition to select sites for nature monument status. Our partner is the Foundation for Eco-development, which has extensive experience in the field of ecological projects, including the protection and rational management of trees.
Summary of project results
The aim of the project was to raise the standard of maintaining urban greenery in the city of Świeradów-Zdrój. Also raising the awareness of the local community about the role of trees in the city and the law regulating a given issue.
The main product is an inventory of two key areas in terms of greenery in our commune: the complex of spa parks in the Świeradów-Zdrój Spa and the "A" spa protection zone of the Czerniawa-Zdrój Spa. We placed educational boards in two areas about their ecological function in the city. To disseminate knowledge about the role of trees in our commune, their management and law, we published a guide "Trees in the landscape of Świeradów-Zdrój and other towns in the Jizera Mountains", which we widely disseminated. As part of the education, we organized a "dendrological and landscape tour" whose main topic was the municipal tree stand. We organized ecological workshops for children in schools and kindergartens.
The inventory of green areas, submitted to the Office for the Protection of Monuments and the City Hall of Świeradów-Zdrój, forced a different approach to the management of urban green areas. Having specific data on the condition of individual trees, the commune can more accurately indicate trees for treatment or possible felling. Also for the conservator of monuments, who has the decisive say in the matter of urban greenery, data facilitates decision-making. The observation is that fewer trees are approved by the conservator for cutting down when the inventory shows that they are valuable specimens with recommendations for treatment. Thanks to the data from the inventory, it was possible to save a tree with the status of a natural monument, which the commune had sent for felling. These are the greatest successes of the project. The effects of educational activities are difficult to measure. We estimate that the content of the educational boards is read by hundreds of people, about fifty people participated in the educational trip, not only residents of the commune, but also tourists. The mini guide was distributed to hundreds of residents and is available all the time at the community center and the local ecological education center. This is not something that will revolutionize the perception of trees in the city, but it will make it easier to understand the purpose of protection and the law. Workshops in schools encourage the youngest generation of residents to develop a positive attitude towards nature.