Cali’s trees produce 9,003 tons of oxygen per year and remove 77.67 tons of air pollutants. This was revealed by the Cali tree census, which the CVC delivered to the Cali Mayor’s Office. The document revealed that, in addition, the city has 84,601 tons of CO₂ stored in its biomass.
Another interesting fact is that the foliage of the city’s trees stops raindrops and releases that water slowly, which is why it is estimated that it has prevented the runoff of 130,962 cubic meters of water annually, reducing the probability of floods and landslides. .
Likewise, Cali went from having 280,000 trees to 382,655. The presence of native species increased from 34% to 54%. The first practical application of the census is that it recommends intervening approximately 5,000 trees at risk, which will probably increase during this rainy season. In economic terms, the city’s trees have been valued at $2.11 billion.
These are just some of the data from the Tree Census that the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Valle del Cauca, CVC, has just delivered to Dagma and that will allow better management of this ecosystemic heritage of the inhabitants of Cali. The event was held in commemoration of Arbor Day.
“The last time Cali trees were censused was in 2015 when 280,000 trees were counted. With our actions we have increased, according to this census, to 382,655 arboreal individuals. We are providing Dagma with the data of each of these trees with photos, species identification, georeferenced location, measurements, phytosanitary status, vulnerability (the risk they may represent at a given time) and recommendations such as maintenance, treatment or eradication. in extreme cases,” explains Marco Antonio Suárez Gutiérrez, general director of the CVC.
He highlighted that one of the first practical applications of the census is that it recommends the intervention of 5,000 trees at risk that would increase in this rainy season that is just beginning and that is probably influenced by the La Niña Phenomenon.
“The study makes Cali the first city in Colombia in which a calculation is made of the ecosystem services of its trees such as oxygen production, CO2 capture and sequestration, avoided runoff and decontamination, which in turn allowed us to calculate In economic terms, how much would it cost to replace this heritage if it were lost and the figure reaches 2.11 billion pesos,” explains engineer Jairo Rosero Narváez, who directed the census.
