Pollution-busting ‘supertrees’ come to Chester

Three 7.5m Singapore-style ‘supertrees’ will be placed in Chester city centre next month.

The steel structures are built in the shape of trees and are fitted with various climbing plants to tackle air pollution and increase plant, animal and insect diversity in the city.

They have been created offsite and will be brought into Chester in sections for building during August. It is expected to take between two to three years for the climbing plants to reach the top of the trees.

The project is the brainchild of the ForEST (For Eco Supertrees) community group and is supported by Cheshire West and Chester Council.

Steven Hughes, chairman of the ForEST group said: ‘The inspiration for the Chester Supertrees project came from the Planet Earth II documentary Sir David Attenborough did, in the final episode it shows the success of Supertrees Grove in Singapore’s nature park.

‘It shows the species and ecosystems that exist within cities across the world, but finishes with the Gardens by the Bay project, where the Supertrees are located. They create an environment for a variety of plant life that would not normally exist in a City.

‘Chester’s are on a much smaller scale but still aim to achieve the same environmental goals and social inspiration as they have done in Singapore.’

Gardens by the Bay. Singapore.

Singapore has several larger supertrees in its Gardens by the Bay park, one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions. They are up to 50 metres tall and also include solar panels.

Chester Zoo and the ForEST group say they are working together to make sure the space is used as an educational space, funded and maintained to a high standard for years to come.

The ForEST group raised funds through various community-based events and also secured funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, Pocket Parks Plus grant.

A grant was provided through FCC Communities Foundation Action Fund. Section 106 funding and New Homes Bonus funding has also been used for this project.

Earlier this month, a leading UK environmental research centre has published a new interactive calculator to raise awareness of how trees can help remove air pollution.

Scientists at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) teamed up with the environmental economics consultancy Economics for the Environment Consultancy (eftec) to develop the online tool, called Pollution Removal by Vegetation.

Photo Credit – Pixabay