Alcalá de Guadaíra plans the care of its 90,000 trees

Alcalá de Guadaíra will have a Master Tree Plan to learn the state of its trees and decide how to care for them in the short, medium and long term. The document will cover some 90,000 specimens owned and managed by the municipality: those in streets, parks and gardens, public schools, municipal buildings, the cemetery and the Riberas del Guadaíra Natural Monument, as explained by the delegate for Natural Monument, Environment and Sustainability, Luisa Campos. The plan will serve to diagnose the state of the trees, detect their needs and set the technical conservation guidelines. It will also define new plantings, the improvement of existing ones and which species fit best in each space, as well as maintenance criteria and tools to assess risks and act on incidents or adverse weather events. There will be special attention to the Oromana pines and to the palms against the red palm weevil, with a preference for biological control and environmentally friendly solutions. The work is linked to the municipal objectives of climate change adaptation, increased shade and improvement of green areas. The drafting of the document will be contracted out and will have a period of nine months from the formalisation of the contract. It is divided into two phases: at five months the analysis and diagnosis will be completed, and at seven months the planning. The result will include a digitised inventory, a risk assessment plan and a planting programme. The City Council expects to have the strategy in 2027. The plan is in addition to the planting and replacement of 4,300 trees within the Alcalá + Verde plan, as detailed by the Council. The delegate has stated that «caring for our trees today is investing in the quality of life of those of us who live here and in the city we want to leave to the next generations». The process will include a participatory phase to collect proposals and share decisions on the tree heritage.