London is an urban jungle. Beyond the glass and steelwork that lifts the Shard above London's skyline, or the portland stone of St Paul's Cathedral, greenery can be found flourishing across the city. Now, a map designed by the Greater London Authority offers an in-depth illustration of the population density and species variety of trees across our capital.
Street Trees is an interactive map showing the locations and species of more than 700,000 trees, in 23 varieties such as apple, birch, oak and willow. The map data was compiled from 2014-2015 and is dedicated, in particular, to trees along roads or public paths, as well as those in public open spaces, such as small parks. This means that, when hovering over larger London parks, the map may show up as a blank space. But don't be fooled – it's just a way of raising awareness of the trees that spring up where nobody usually looks.
The map is only a partial representation, due to the fact that at the time of data collection, not all London boroughs had information on the trees in their area. This is why certain areas of the map, such as Hackney, are incomplete.
A recent London iTree report estimates there are now more than eight million trees in the capital. While the map doesn't illustrate all of them, it still offers an incredibly vibrant view of the tree varieties throughout the city.
One of the most interesting features is the comprehensive list of varieties. For example, the map's birds-eye perspective over Islington shows an abundance of cherry trees, indicated by the yellow dots in the index and across the map.
The Greater London Authority lists one of the main benefits of data-sharing London tree information as a way of raising public awareness around the importance of trees to the capital.
Standardising this data could help manage urban forests, as well as help local authorities determine where to invest in green space development. Furthermore, the map could help to assess species diversity and examine various threats from pests and plant diseases across London.
A recent study by the Botanical Gardens Conservation International has found that there are more than 60,000 tree species in the world. Brazil was found to be the nation with the greatest number of tree species, home to 8,715 varieties. Tools such as the Botanical Gardens survey and London Street Tree map present us with an amazing opportunity to record the different kinds of tree life on this earth, and create strategies to help maintain this diversity.
Other than that, it's a beautiful thing to look at.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
