Road reconstruction and public consultation
The benefits of trees in public spaces
The Davenport area currently lacks large canopy trees, and the few large stature trees are old and in decline. Large canopy trees improve air quality by filtering 80-90% of the airborne particulate matter on a well-treed street. The air quality in built-up areas like Dupont, Hallam, Wade or Paton roads may have 5 to 10 times the amount of air pollutants as compared to a well-forested one (Brad Bass, Climate Change Researcher).
The many health benefits provided by trees increase exponentially as trees age, so educating a generation of urban forest stewards is key to improving air quality in Toronto now and in the future. Trees sequester air pollutants in the leaf surface area and release oxygen at an increasing rate as they mature. Their expanding root systems also sequester pollutants from groundwater, breaking down a number of noxious chemicals in the water table. These chemicals otherwise make their way under Davenport's streets into our drinking water source (Lake Ontario).
The City of Toronto's Our Common Grounds report, released in 2004, has quantified the value of a well-forested neighbourhood: "Over a 50-year life span," reads the report, "the average tree makes: $31,250 worth of oxygen; $62,000 worth of air pollution control; recycles $37,500 worth of water, and controls $31,250 worth of soil erosion."
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