Prague City plans to plant 25,718 trees this autumn. Most of them will be added to the Běchovice (17,800) and Jinonice areas.

By June  2020, Běchovice will have another 56,000 trees added, in addition to the “V Panenky” forest built. Parks in Petřín and Stromovka will also grow in numbers of trees.  Hopefully, over 186,000 trees are planted by the end of this year.

Further planting is planned for next year in connection with the construction of a new wildlife rescue station. Prague City wants to expand the Stromovka Park as well with 100  new trees implanted.

The park invites the public to help plant them on November 9 and 21. Joint planting is planned on Nov. 13 in Petřín and Nov. 27 in the Třešňovka orchard in Hrdlořezy. Reconstructions of the Prague parks this year is budgeted at 68 million CZK (2.65 million euros).

“Most of the trees were newly planted as part of afforestation of the original agricultural land,”  said Vít Hofman, spokeswoman for the municipality. These were mainly urban areas in parts of the city which are quite distant from the wider center (i.e. Vinoř, Běchovice or Slatina).

It is estimated that the trees will still be the most expensive in the city’s outskirts. Forests play a vital role in the city’s life. 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.