Trees are arguably the single most important component of Green Infrastructure (the mosaic of parks, street trees and all other ‘green assets’ found in urban areas), yet are often overlooked and undervalued. In particular, trees are important because they enhance and improve the urban environment by providing a wide range of benefits (or ecosystem services) at relatively little cost. For example, there is a growing body of research which demonstrates that trees improve our health and well being. Trees also provide a ‘sense of place’, moderate extremes of high temperature in urban areas, improve air quality and act as a carbon sink.
Estimates of canopy cover for each ward in the borough of Islington were calculated (Figure 1 illustrates the area of study). The results provide a snapshot of the current tree canopy cover (table 1) and a baseline to allow for comparison with any future tree canopy surveys. The study also compared tree canopy cover with relevant statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and reviewed other available sources of geographical data on human health, wellbeing and societal factors (such as crime rates, social deprivation and life expectancy) to observe if there was any correlation with tree canopy cover.
