Sarah and some of her neighbours have taken upon themselves not only to save the trees in their neighbourhood but also to plant more trees to create a greener future for Bermondsey.
I would like to see trees planted near me. Those trees that can grow to be 100 years old or 200 years old. Trees that have been planted for the future. - Sarah
Part 1: About Bermondsey's trees
Could you tell us who you are and where you live?
My name is Sarah Vaughan and I live in London, in an area called Bermondsey. I've lived here for 25 years. I live in a nice old house with a garden with lots of birds and flowers and it's a great place to live.
How would you describe Bermondsey to someone who has never been there?
It was a place that was famous for its docks, all the products that London used came into the docks. But the last docks closed in the late 1970s. And the other thing that Bermondsey was very famous for was its food factories, so that goes with the idea of the docks. It is very industrial with lots of old industrial buildings.
And could you tell us more about the greenery of Bermondsey?
There are some very famous trees in Bermondsey. There was a lady, Ada Salter, who wanted to do good in the world. She became mayor, Lady mayor in the 1920s, which was something that women didn't tend to do at that time. And one of the things that she wanted to do was to improve the area and make it more beautiful for the people who lived there. She planted thousands and thousands of trees in the 1920s and 30s. She also raised money so that people could have plants and flowers in front of their houses. There were parks for working people so that they had somewhere they could go get fresh air, which was very important because it was polluted. The reason that she planted trees was that, even at that time, they were known for sucking up large amounts of pollution. And she planted especially a type called the Tree of Heaven. They grew very fast and they were very good at absorbing pollution.
Part 2: What triggered the movement
What did you notice lately about the trees in Bermondsey?
I noticed that the council seemed to be pruning the trees - or what we call pollarding, which is severe pruning - which is normally done in the winter months when the tree is dormant. And they began to do it at all times of the year. And it happened to the black poplar tree that was in front of my house that I loved. It's a very beautiful tree. It made me realize how precious these big old trees were and that also that they had limited lives and what was going to happen if all these old trees were going to be chopped down.
Did a lot of these trees end up being chopped down?
Some of them. Some had to be chopped down because they're old and they get rotten. We found this out from the council during a meeting with them because we wanted to find out why they were doing this work. And they were quite pleased I think that there was a group of people that were interested. At the same time, I think we frightened them a little bit because I'm a nice middle-aged lady, quite presentable, but I started to ask a few awkward questions.
Were you the one reaching out to your neighbours for help or did they reach out to you for support?
We reached out to each other actually. We have an app called Nextdoor, where all the people in your area can join and if there's anything that you want to talk about, you can post a message and then other people can comment. So I posted a message as I wanted to know why the council were cutting the trees. This was last year in the spring when all the trees were in leaf and it seemed like the wrong thing to do. And other people had noticed as well. And we started to talk a lot about this and it gathered so much momentum. People wanted to do something so we formed our group, we contacted our councillors, managed to get some thoughts and some support from them. They were happy to help us which is good and that’s how it started.
And how many people are involved?
So far we have quite a small group. There are 10 of us in total that are sort of active.
But what we have recently started doing is we're applying to become a charity and hoping to get new members.
Part 3: For the future
What is the name of the charity you are starting and what are you hoping to achieve?
The charity is called Trees for Bermondsey and we aim to “protect, replace, increase”. Protect our trees that are already here. Replace the trees that have been taken down. Systematically, which they haven't been until now. And, increasing means once we've replaced those trees, we will keep adding trees in places where maybe they weren't considered before. We are working with the groups to organize tree planting events. We've done some hedge planting already.
How is the council helping you?
Our council here declared a climate emergency last year. So they have pledged to do something to improve the climate conditions. We're supposed to be carbon neutral by 2030. Not only in Bermondsey where I live but the whole of London has some of the worst pollution levels. So it's terrible for the children and lots of people die from pollution-related illnesses. So the Arboricultural Department have obtained funding and want us to help them with a big tree-planting project.
Besides helping with air pollution, what else are these trees helpful for?
Firstly, it is important because it makes people feel good. To have green and trees around is proven to be good for people's mental and physical health. Also, with climate change, we've had some terrible floods. London is protected from localized flooding by a big barrier that was built on the Thames which stops large quantities of floodwater getting into central London. But it used to be flooded all the time before they brought the barrier. And the trees are incredibly important for absorbing excess water. They can absorb litres and litres of water through their roots. Of course, it is also important for biodiversity. They help to connect parks or gardens. It creates green corridors through planting on street sides, whether some trees, hedges or even lots of flower pots. Every one of those areas will contain a little microcosm of wildlife.
How many trees do you hope to plant in the future?
As part of the measures taken for the Climate Emergency, the goal is to raise the canopy - meaning the area that the trees cover, the actual leaves - to 20% in every part of the borough. Some places already have that but for others, the tree cover is only around 7%. The council plans for at least 1800 new trees to be planted every year over the next 10 years till 2030, and they've asked for our help. For now, there should be some funding to help plant 2000 trees between 2020 and 2021 and then the same number for another four years. A lot of these trees will be focused in areas that have the lowest tree canopy.
Part 4: Sarah's advice to you
If somebody would like to do something similar, in England or elsewhere, what advice would you have for them?
Go for it! Just go for it! Don't worry about the consequences of thinking that people won't agree with you or thinking that you need to be an expert, or that other people must know better because they are in positions of power. If it's something that you feel strongly about, by all means, learn! Inform yourself. Learn about the topic, but don't be afraid to reach out to other people that might feel the same way as you and just get involved.
If you want to support Trees for Bermondsey, check out their website here, or on Twitter with the handle @BermondseyTrees.
Article by:
Lena Fix
Editor in chief at The ComPost
Pictures provided by:
Sarah Vaughan
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