Hey Thoughty2 here.
“Hi tree on the corner of Punt Road and Alexandra Avenue and that little street that
goes up the side, How are you?
How old are you?
I’ve always wondered about you ever since my slightly strange driving instructor (who
always smelled like cat food and peppermints) told me you were his favourite tree.
I hope they don’t knock you down.”
This was an email written to a tree in Melbourne, Australia…
yes a tree.
To combat the steady decline of trees in Melbourne, following a 13-year drought, the city devised
a genius plan called the “Urban Forest Strategy”.
Was their genius plan to invest in better irrigation systems to keep the city’s trees
watered in the intense Aussie heat?
No… that’s boring …they instead gave each and every tree in Melbourne an email
address, that’s 77,000 trees.
The idea was that Melbourne residents could report tree vandalism, broken branches or
other issues that could threaten the tree’s wellbeing, to the city council, by directly
emailing the tree itself.
Sounds great!
But it went very wrong, in the most amazing way possible.
People started to write love letters to their favourite trees.
Since the scheme went live Melbourne City Council have received thousands of love letters
via email, from all over the world, addressed to the newly-famous trees of Melbourne.
If you see a Melbournian tree you like on Google Street View you can go to the project’s
website and find its email.
As I can imagine happened when a Brush Box tree received the following email from a mysterious
gentleman in Russia:
“Hello, dear Tree.
I read about this wonderful project and suppose to write you from another side of Earth - Russia.
I hope you have a good care and don’t sick.
One day we will meet, may be.”
Oh Vladimir, I never knew you were such a lover of nature.
Also, an elm tree received this email from a fellow 15,000 kilometres away in jolly-olde
England, it’s not from me, honest:
“Dear Elm, I was delighted to find you alive and flourishing, because a lot of your family
used to live in the UK, but they all caught a terrible infection and died.
Do be very careful, and if you notice any unfamiliar insects e-mail an arboriculturist
at once.
I miss your characteristic silhouettes and beautifully shaped branches — used to be
one of the glories of the English landscape — more than I can say.
Melbourne must be a beautiful city.
Sincere good wishes, D”
The trees have received every kind of email from quick greetings, love letters and poems,
questions about current events and politics and even existential dilemmas.
One gentleman called Troy was so concerned about the Greek debt crisis that he had a
full-on political debate with a local Red Cedar tree.
And yes, the tree actually emailed back, as they often do.
Troy opened with:
“Hi Tree, Are you worried about being affected by the
Greek debt crisis?
Should Greece be allowed to stay in the European Union?
Regards, Troy”
To which the tree replied:
“Hi Troy, I seem to remember the Greeks razed you to
the ground one time—are you still angry at them?
Greece is not out of the woods yet, but may be out of the EU….
Some say that they should be allowed to devalue their currency in order to recover their economy,
but the EU will not allow them to do that.
Some say that it is partly the austerity program, which has made it this bad.
They say austerity was a disaster for Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union and
for the recovery of Asia from the GFC…
I don’t know, but then I’m only a tree.
Regards, Western Red Cedar”
Overall the project has been a huge success and despite the unintended consequences, being
able to email trees has vastly increased the citizens of Melbourne’s interest in looking
after and increasing the amount of trees in Melbourne.
Having canopy cover from thousands of trees decreases the average temperature of the entire
city by 4 degrees Celsius in the summer.
Which is needed as it’s bloody Australia.
I just hope residents don’t become too attached to their local trees as I fear for what they
might do to them.
One golden elm tree already has a stalker, who’s latest email read:
“Dear 1037148, you deserve to be known by more than a number.
I love you.
Always and forever.”
…yeah, this whole thing could start to get really weird.
Thanks for watching.