Brussels Mobility, the region's department for mobility, public works and road safety, planted 1,550 new trees of 150 different species last winter. The department is in charge of the maintenance and upkeep of a total of 35,000 trees in the Brussels Region.
“At the same time, many green projects were carried out, such as the beautification of Avenue Louise,” Brussels Mobility said in a press release. “The specialised teams of Brussels Mobility have carefully selected each of these trees at the nursery.”
“Every resident of Brussels should have access to a park nearby and trees or plants in the street,” said Elke van den Brandt, Mobility Minister in Brussels. “This winter we again realised many small green projects and planted 1,550 new trees.”
Brussels Mobility has been carrying out numerous local projects to increase the permeability of the soil, thereby ensuring better management of runoff water. “Just enlarging the holes at the base of the trees already has a significant effect,” said Brussels Mobility.
Recycling trees
In some cases, trees can be damaged by accidents or the onset of disease. Brussels Mobility wants to reuse the recovered wood locally, for which they are collaborating with sawmill Sonian Wood Coop.
The cooperative is researching how to best reuse wood for various purposes: furniture, floor coverings, toys and much more.
“By reusing the wood locally, Brussels Mobility wants to be part of a local and low-carbon environmental approach. Usually, wood from Belgian forests is exported to Asia for processing, leaving a negative ecological footprint.”
