The Solution to our Climate Crisis is a Simple One – TREES
Garden & Landscape Designers Association Annual Seminar – online – 26 February 2022
This will be the message from an inspirational panel of speakers at the upcoming Garden and Landscape Designer Association (GLDA) 26th Annual Design Seminar (online) on Saturday, 26th February 2022.
The world faces climate disaster but highly respected Irish and international experts will deliver a timely and optimistic message at the upcoming live-streamed seminar entitled “PLAN Trees, PLANT Trees, PLANET Trees” which will appeal to everyone with an interest in horticulture, landscape design, gardens or the environment.
Speakers ranging from up-and-coming British designer, Charlotte Harris, and Ireland’s renowned tree expert, Thomas Pakenham, will tell the seminar that rather than feeling helpless about the climate crisis, we can be proactive and plant more trees.
The line-up of inspirational Irish and international experts also includes Dutch landscape architect Thijs Dolders, a committed user of trees in his designs; Henrik Sjöman, a Swedish botanist and plant hunter who is trialling species in the hope of finding the “plants of tomorrow”; and Gerald Mills, Associate Professor of Geography at UCD. They will share their knowledge and show how, by using creative design, we can add more trees to our landscape, streetscape and gardens.
There is scope to double tree cover in cities but this is not being achieved because of a sometimes negative perception of trees in urban settings. The speakers will highlight how opportunities for urban forests in our parks, gardens, streets, squares, riparian corridors and rooftops can provide major health benefits for communities, pollution reduction, and flood amelioration, as well as being havens for wildlife and biodiversity. Recent research in theUK found that a single oak tree can support an astonishing 2,300 species.
The GLDA’s 26th Annual Design Seminar comes against the worrying backdrop of a more than one degree rise in global temperatures. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that global temperatures must not rise above 1.5 degrees C. Speakers will detail how trees are the ultimate machine for carbon capture, locking away atmospheric CO2 for centuries in trunk, roots, leaves, deadwood and surrounding soils and vegetation.
The panel of experts will pose challenging but necessary questions and suggest positive actions. Can you grow small trees on your balcony or larger groups of trees in your garden? If you have already replaced your lawn with wildflowers, can you go another step and grow a small woodland? Can you get involved in a community-led project to plant more trees or protect existing trees and woodland?
The seminar will hear that rather than feeling helpless and wondering what we can do as individuals, there is something really beneficial we can do for the planet. Plant more trees.
Tickets to watch the GLDA seminar live online on Saturday 26th February 2022, with access to videos of the keynote talks available on demand after the event, are on sale now on www.GLDA.ie.
● Full, Pre-Reg and Corporate Members & Friends of the GLDA: €60
● Friend + 1 year subscription: €110
● Student + 1 year membership: €45
● Non-Member: €70
For further information see editorial notes below or contact:
Peter Stam, PRO, GLDA
email: info@stambamboo.com
