The economic case for trees

Transcription

1 The economic case for trees Local Government Association Harrogate, 1 st July 2015 Tim Sunderland, Principal Specialist in Economics, Natural England

2 Image from The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The Second best time is today. Chinese Proverb

3 Accountancy Economics vs Costs Benefits Accountancy icon from: Economics icon from:

4 Benefits provided by trees Carbon Air-Quality Local climate moderation Beauty Sequestration Stopping Erosion Reducing Flooding Wildlife Habitat Soil Quality Picture from Noise Abatement Filtering Water Pollution

5 Valuing Benefits Prove Quantify Value

6 Trees and their benefits for Flood Risk Mitigation Moorland Catchments 1 Street Tree 50 62% than forested ones (1) A shelter belt can lead to a 40% in field scale flood peaks (2) Soil permeability 5 8 times In broadleaf woodland than grassland (3) 4 Sites 40 Hectares of trees 1 hour in major flood (4) In storm water run off over 9m area (6) Urban Forests Peak run off (5)

7 Trees and their benefits for Pollution mitigation Modelling estimates 711,000 tonnes of pollution in US urban areas each year (7) 547 Ha mixed Greenspace Reduces pollution and Urban Forests Ozone Pollution (10) Particulate Matter Accumulation fold 2 Deaths & 2 Hospital Admissions each year (8) Picture from Between species: Mountain Pine, Silver Birch, Stephanandra, Skimmia, Grey Willow and Scots Pine the best (9)

8 Trees and their benefits for Climate Change mitigation 1 LargeTree New Forest River Shading by trees 450 litres of H20 and 1,000 megajoules each day and reduces urban temperatures (11) Urban Parks are 1% than built up Areas (12) Tree Shelterbelt Office heating energy by 3.64 kw per sqm Or 18.1% of total (13) Image from water temperatures 5 degrees celsius lower than rivers in open grassland (15) Above ground storage of C in Leicester 231,521 t 97% in

9 Trees and their benefits for Noise mitigation 1 Tree Belt 3.6 m wide 4.0m high Picture from sound levels by 4 decibels (16)

10 Trees and their socio-economic benefits Business districts with trees Shoppers will be Travel Further Stay Longer Visit more frequently Pay more (17) Live near Greenery TREES CRIME (19) Picture from

11 Felix Finkbeiner

12 Torbay s urban forest 818,000 trees 11% forest cover Most common trees are; Leyland Cypress, Ash and Sycamore Most important by leaf area are; Ash, Sycamore, Beech and Hazel 71% of trees were in private ownership but these are smaller ones Picture from:

13 Benefits provided by trees Carbon Air-Quality Local climate moderation Beauty Sequestration Stopping Erosion Reducing Flooding Wildlife Habitat Soil Quality Noise Abatement Filtering Water Pollution

14 Snapshot Results

15 Proportion of costs justified by air-quality and carbon sequestration benefits alone 37% 1% 46% 209%

16 Results: air pollution removal

17 Results: annual carbon sequestration

18 Proportion of costs justified by air-quality and carbon sequestration benefits alone At Discount Rate of: 3.5% 2.1% 37% 1% 46% 209% 76% 1% 79% 479%

19 Wangari Maatthai Picture from

20 A society prospers when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they will never sit Greek Proverb Image from

21 Contact Details and More information Contact Details Tim Sunderland, Principal Specialist in Economics, Natural England References MEBIE review gives more detail on all references accept Torbay: Torbay study

22 References (see MEBIE for more details) 1) Archer ) Jackson, Wheater et al ) Archer, Bonell et al ) Nisbet and Thomas ) Xiao, McPherson et al ) Armson, Stringer et al ) Nowak, Crane et al ) Tiwary, Sinnett et al ) Saebo, Popek et al ) Nowak, Civerolo et al ) Bolund and Hunhammar ) Bowler, Buyung-Ali et al ) Liu and Harris ) Davies, Edmondson et al ) Broadmeadow, Jones et al ) Fang & Ling, ) Wolf ) Herzele and Vries ) Troy, Grove et al. 2012