HEALTHY trees are an integral part of the urban landscape. When properly managed, they do more than add colour and beauty to towns and cities.

They promote mental and physical health and well-being, mitigate the effects of climate change, remove pollution from the atmosphere, provide shade and habitat for wildlife, reduce flood risk by absorbing water and offer fruit for foraging.

Valuing Ealing’s Urban Trees is a new technical report developed by Trees for Cities, Ealing Council, Treeconomics, Forestry Commission, Forest Research, the Greater London Authority, and Arup.

There are an estimated 234,400 trees in the borough, with an amenity value of £3.4bn. These trees remove 33 tons of pollutants and more than 2,000 tons of carbon from the atmosphere every year, improving air quality and helping mitigate climate change.

Tree cover varies greatly across Ealing, from 6% in Southall Green ward to 26% in North Greenford.

A total of 87 species of trees were recorded across Ealing within the study. As London’s third largest borough, the number is proportionate – but greater diversity can still be achieved.

Ealing’s trees are becoming increasingly valuable as society faces the challenges of climate change and population growth.

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Ellen Osborne, the project co-ordinator who co-authored the report, said: “The vision is to better inform the council’s future management and maintenance strategies, strengthen the business case to retain existing trees in the borough, and inform future planting strategy.

“We are ambitious for this project model to be scaled and replicated by other local authorities.”

Key findings from the report are brought to life through a new micro site, https://www.ealingitree.online/

To encourage public interest, Trees for Cities will be tagging trees along the approach to Ealing Broadway station with fun greetings and facts to inspire and inform the public.

People are invited to visit them until this Sunday to learn what city trees give back and to take a photo with them, to be with the chance of winning a prize.