Prague Seeks More Green Space

The greenery in Prague – forests and parks – will be increased through planting, and replacing old and diseased trees, which will be recycled into benches or wood for fireplaces and boilers.

One of the most popular and largest green areas of the capital, Stromovka, will get 142 new trees in the spring. The planting will be held in two stages.

“We finished the first part in the autumn of last year, during which 105 new trees went to the largest park in Prague. Another 37 trees will be added during the spring months this year,” said Petra Fišerová from the company Lesy of the City of Prague (LHMP), which takes care of greenery in the city.

New trees, according to forestry projects, create a continuous collection that surrounds Rudolfův pond. “Some trees are planted as substitute trees for the surviving skeleton trees or for the ones that have had mushroom diseases after the floods in 2013 and had to be removed from the park. Some of the trees were planted in the Old Park to expand the collection of domestic and exotic trees,” explained LHMP representatives.

In the range of trees planted, the largest item is the oak tree, the specialists dropped off 14 species, such as the traditional oak winter, the white, the chestnut, the large, the black, the marsh, or the Mexican. Experts say oaks have a number of benefits. The basic properties of their wood are hardness, strength, toughness and durability.  

“We have eliminated undesirable tree species, and in their place have earmarked nearly eight thousand new trees and shrubs that correspond to the natural tree species in Prague,” Fišerová explained. Foresters plan to plant more than 40,000 trees by 2020.

The winter season is also an ideal period for restorative interventions in Prague greenery.  For example, in Rohožník in the Belchovice field, according to the plan for this year, the old, dry and potentially dangerous poplars will be removed. A little further, in the hunting ground, the foresters plan to extract birch or shoot out of cherry and hornbeam.

Experts will also use the removed wood. It will gradually return to forests and parks in the form of repaired benches, arbours and new park game elements. Its use will also find lower quality wood. Its processing will be carried out by the Kibi Chopper, and the Praguers can buy it in the form of firewood for boilers and fireplaces.

Forests play an important role in the life of the city. Trees consume carbon dioxide and return oxygen, heal the environment, and affect the climate.

“For example, a hectare of beech forest can absorb 63 tons of dust per year,” biologist Zdenka Zavičáková said. Due to summer heat and drought, the important fact is that the forest is a reservoir of groundwater. Its roots capture the surface rainwater and help ensure its accumulation.

Author: Lilato Madiri