Environmentalist organizations seek to revise the Tree Master Plan (2025-2035) for Córdoba, a municipal strategy aiming to increase the city's tree cover to 34% and combat heat islands. The original plan includes an investment of 34 million euros over ten years and the annual planting of 3,000 trees, prioritizing areas with few green spaces and filling empty tree pits.
These proposals have been submitted ahead of the Municipal Environment Council meeting in September, a body responsible for advising on and monitoring projects with environmental impact. While the entities view the overall document positively, they highlight the need for a thorough review due to detected "errors or contradictions," such as conflicting figures on urban tree coverage percentages, ranging from 33.94% to 11.60% in different plan sections.
Ecologists and El Brote consider a complete transformation of the Municipal Parks and Gardens Service "unavoidable," requiring changes in practices and adequate resources (technical, personnel, financial) to implement the plan's proposals. They also emphasize the involvement of the Municipal Urban Planning Department, as the plan must be integrated into urban planning, land use, and mobility plans for sustainable development.
The organizations propose increasing the city's tree coverage to 40%, compared to the 25% in the municipal initiative, and raising park coverage from 70% to 80%. They stress the importance of urban renaturalization, including green corridors, a third layer of vegetation, increased soil permeability, and rainwater harvesting through sustainable drainage systems.
A notable proposal is the introduction of trees in parking areas, particularly in the Historic Center, to enhance its tree density. To achieve this, they suggest adopting a detailed proposal from the Axarquía Verde entity.
