From Hildburg Bruns
There are no gap fillers on the streets of the capital! Far more trees disappear than are replanted!
The balance within ten years: 59,912 street trees had to be felled, but only 27,948 successors are now flanking the asphalt again.
After all, Berliners have a big heart for their greenery: they donated 1.3 million euros as part of the city tree campaign. Supplemented by tax money, 5,582 street trees could be planted, according to a parliamentary AfD request.
Berlin has around 430,000 street trees. Here particularly large specimens in Schöneberg Photo: picture alliance / Wolfram Stein
But why the many departures? “It is the result of several dry summers,” says MP Turgut Altug (57, Greens). In 2021, he fought for the Senate to increase annual care for the districts from 47 to 82 euros/tree.
But that’s not enough for many districts: Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg demands 310 euros/tree to maintain the current number.
What else should happen? Altug: “The space would have to be expanded by enlarging the tree screens. You have to unseal the ground, which then again means conflicts over parking spaces.”
He also demands that the spreading of de-icing salt be stopped or that it does not even come on bike paths. And: Older trees should be fertilized in the spring.
The number of street trees currently: 430,358. Attempts to select new climate-resistant species have not yet been evaluated. Altug: “They will probably come from southern Europe or the Balkans.”