This is my revised summary of freelance writer Amy Fleming’s article “The Importance of Urban Forests.” My original draft was written on Sept 27, 2020 for my English 100 class at Capilano University.
Freelance writer Amy Fleming reports that the urban integration of trees is undeniably beneficial to our mental, physical, and economic wellbeing in her Guardian article titled “The Importance of Urban Forests” (2016). Fleming notes the experience of historian Jill Jones who, while gaining research for her book “Urban Forests”, watched many of the local trees in America get wiped out by the 1970s due to the spreading of disease and prioritization of urbanization. What were once seen as costly and decorative, the author examines, are only recently recognized to have an economic benefit of “up to $120m a year” (3). Fleming outlines the details of these savings, writing “There were $28m worth of energy savings, $5m worth of air quality improvements and $36m of costs avoided in mitigating storm water flooding” (3). City officials around the world, and apps such as i-Tree, are beginning to take green space matters more seriously as the monetary and health benefits become clear. Public health official and practising GP William Bird emphasizes that studies show living around trees leads to “less anxiety and depression” (4) which, Fleming observes, “reduce[s] health inequality” (5), and yet the underprivileged people who need this the most are living in the barest neighbourhoods. Fleming believes that the world of “greener, happier, healthier cities” (5) the FAO Forestry Department wants to see won’t be realized unless sustainable policies are implemented immediately and future generations experience what nature has to offer.