A One Tree Planted story

As part of an international project, tree plantings will take place in Budapest this year alongside Madrid and Bucharest, thanks to the 10 Million Trees Foundation, to mitigate the effects of urban heat islands. In collaboration with One Tree Planted, afforestation projects will be carried out at seven locations, covering nearly a thousand square meters, with more than a thousand trees to be planted in the capital this year.

“Our collaboration with One Tree Planted dates back to the fall of 2020,” says Iván András Bojár, founder of the 10 Million Trees Foundation, “and over the past three years, we have planted several thousand trees together in Dombfalva, Nyim, and Székesfehérvár. We work on a wide variety of projects, always tailored to local needs. In Dombfalva and the Nyim eco-community area, we completed an ecological restoration project this spring by planting more than 2,200 saplings, and last fall and this spring, we planted 350 trees in 19 schools in and around Székesfehérvár.” 

Tree Planting Against Urban Heat Islands

“Thanks to our previous successful collaborations, we were invited to a selective tender this year,” says Franciska Hervai, chief coordinator of the 10 Million Trees Foundation, “which we won. As part of One Tree Planted’s European pilot project, plantings will take place in Budapest this year alongside Madrid and Bucharest, thanks to the 10 Million Trees Foundation, to mitigate the effects of urban heat islands. In afforestation projects carried out at seven locations, covering nearly a thousand square meters, we will plant more than a thousand trees and numerous shrubs. At four of the seven locations, we will establish Miyawaki mini-forests, and our planting on May 14 will create an edible garden in collaboration with the Budapest Bike Maffia in the garden of a homeless shelter.”

“Miyawaki forests have now spread worldwide and due to their special properties, they can effectively mitigate the effects of climate change in large cities,” explains Iván András Bojár. “The trees in these planted forests grow at a faster rate, sequestering more CO2 in a shorter time, and also contribute to creating more livable cities through various other ecological services. Trend analyses show a general tendency for heatwaves to become more frequent, longer, more severe, and more intense throughout the Central European region, including Budapest. All official meteorological data indicate a significant increase in summer temperatures over the past decades. The increase in built-up public spaces and concrete surfaces and the loss of green areas have led to an increase in the number of urban heat islands, which pose a significant public health risk and reduce the quality of life in the city. Moreover, the number of summer heat alerts has also significantly increased: in Budapest, for example, it has tripled. Compared to a century ago, the annual average of days with second-degree heat alerts, as well as third-degree alerts, has significantly increased. Urban heat islands further exacerbate the negative impact of summer heatwaves. In city centers, densely built areas can be 5-10 degrees warmer than the outskirts. This poses a serious health risk to city dwellers, especially the elderly and the sick. Such a mini-forest effectively regulates the local microclimate—not only through the shade provided by the trees but also by utilizing the cooling effect of the water vapor they emit.” 

“This spring, as part of this project, we planted two Miyawaki forests,” says Franciska Hervai, “one near the Pest bridgehead of the Rákóczi Bridge, and the other at the intersection of Határ Road and Soroksári Road. At the Aszódi Street homeless shelter, an edible garden will be planted in collaboration with the Budapest Bika Mafia, and in the fall, we will plant at four more locations in Budapest, two of which will be Miyawaki forests.”

“As part of One Tree Planted’s international event series called “Earth Month,” plantings are taking place throughout April in many cities around the world. In the spring of 2022, we planted 15 mature trees in Budapest’s 15th district, at the playground and dog park on Ozmán Street, and this year in Bonyhád and Kakasd, 11 trees, while in Györé, we created a so-called “Fairy Garden” with more than forty native fruit trees in the garden of the local community house,” Bojár Iván András shares further details. “We hope to have more large-scale joint projects in the future in many parts of the country, so we can combat the increasingly felt negative effects of climate change in as many cities as possible. We must provide a local response to a global problem, and together with major international tree-planting organizations, this is exactly what we are doing.”

One Tree Planted is one of the largest international nonprofit organizations focused on urban tree planting, reforestation, and promoting environmental awareness. Since 2014, they have planted 92 million trees worldwide in collaboration with local partners and by supporting local communities.

The organization’s goal is to combat deforestation and climate change, as well as to improve the quality of life for wildlife and people in different parts of the world. One Tree Planted works with numerous initiatives and organizations in more than 80 countries to increase urban green spaces and forest areas.