Cool shade of Jeddah's trees

Tuesday, 13 April 2010 08:16

generous-shade

NO, this is not about the 33rd Tree Week that was launched Sunday. I've been thinking of writing on trees for quite some time now.

Every time I walk across a street where trees have been chopped off, I feel a little sad. Do you too? But hold on, the growing number of parks and gardens in the Kingdom will surely light you up! The Mayor's office had announced in July 2009 that Jeddah would get 80 new parks "with children's playgrounds, sports fields, footpaths and bathroom facilities."

And work towards this is quite noticeable. Several empty fields have either been turned into parks or work is in progress towards that.

Such efforts must be appreciated. Venues of pure entertainment for the entire family – toddler to grandpa – make weekend getaways much more fun. They also positively impact the environment.

Everyone knows that shade of trees is quite special. It's very different from the shade of concrete structures. There seems to be natural air conditioning under trees. Papers have been written on how tree-shade can reduce the usage of energy in residential localities.

"Pavement, concrete, and buildings in urban areas absorb heat thereby heating the surrounding air both day and night." (Sustainable Halton, 2007, p. 28)

"Tree-shade alters building cooling and heating loads by reducing incident solar radiation." (Energy and Buildings ; Volume 34, Issue 10, November 2002, Pages 1067-1076)

Moreover a person who walks under the blistering sun will tell you the joy he feels when he sees a large tree with generous shade falling in his way.

Going green is definitely on Saudi government's agenda. But when I look at how several trees outside private apartments have been chopped off, I wonder if this interest is scaling down among general public? I know they are looking for convenience and I don't blame them. However, it could have been much better if they had made the trees slimmer instead of chopping down all its branches. Nevertheless, these trees grow back pretty fast.

Chopped offThese trees used to be huge.

Planting trees is no doubt a virtuous act that must be encouraged. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, "Whenever Muslims plant a tree, they will earn the reward of charity because of the food that comes from it; and likewise what is stolen from it, what the wild beasts eat out of it, what the birds eat out of it, and what people take from it is charity for them." (Sahih Muslim)

People, starting with children, can be encouraged about such virtues through mosques, schools, and educational programs. (Yea I purposely left out mainstream media.)

The end of last year and the beginning of this year saw heavy rains, floods and an extended winter. And I've already written wondering if Arabia is turning green?