Regulation on the protection of trees and the development of green areas - Wrocław

The "Regulation on the protection of trees and the development of green areas in Wrocław" was issued by the Mayor of Wrocław in Poland in 2016 and updated in 2019. The overarching objective of the regulation is to promote tree protection measures and development of green areas in the city. The regulation obliges municipal units and other actors that manage land and buildings on behalf of the city to conduct actions to protect and maintain in good condition as many trees as possible. It contains specific actions that need to be undertaken during interventions in green areas or during construction work to protect the trees. When keeping the trees is not possible, it mandates that new trees are planted in compensation and provides detailed instructions regarding the species and location of the newly planted trees. The regulation mandates creating of a database that contains information about the urban greenery in Wrocław and all planned tree plantings and removals. The regulation was created in order to implement the policies for green spaces and environment outlined in the binding Study of Conditions and Directions of Spatial Development in the city of Wrocław, as well as the environmental priorities of the Strategy Wrocław 2030, which is the city's masterplan.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Legislative, regulatory and strategic instruments›Dedicated strategy, plan, or law

Challenges addressed

Green space management (e.g. accessibility)
Heat stress and heat island effect
Air quality
Human health, comfort and well-being

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

The main focus of the regulation is protecting as many of the trees and green areas in the city as it is possible. In cases where trees need to be removed, e.g. as a result of new construction or another development, the regulation ensures that the loss is compensated. The regulation mandates creation of a detailed dendrological report for every planned investment, which creates an inventory of trees and green areas on site, including habitats. The report needs to outline how the trees and green areas will be protected during the planned development and where and how the loss will be compensated, when protection is not possible. The regulation contains a detailed guidance regarding the compensation, which depends on the size of the tree or shrub being removed, type or species, the site from which it is being removed and a site where the compensatory planting will take place. The city created a special calculator to apply the compensation formula.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Derelict areas

External building greens

Urban green space connected to grey infrastructure

Good practice characteristics:

Effective

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Innovative

Policy business case

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

Green Spaces Authority of Wrocław

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The regulation was initiated by the Wrocław Green Spaces Authority (Zarząd Zieleni Miejskiej Miasta Wrocławia). The content of the regulation was consulted with various departments across the municipality in a systematic manner. The regulation was also consulted with scientists from the University of Wrocław and the Wrocław Natural Sciences University, who advised on content related to tree and greenery protection and helped to construct the calculator to calculate the compensation planting.

Involvement of non-governmental actors:

Researchers, university

Type of actor involvement:

Expert task force consultation

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

The instrument primarily applies to public institutions (municipal units that manage land and real estate), but also applies to other actors that manage land and real estate on behalf of the city and land and real estate that belongs to the city. The targeted actors need to commission dendrological reports and ensure that any losses to trees or valuable green areas are compensated on site or at another site.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Implementation of NBS (e.g. with government funds)

Targeted actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public local authority’s budget

Budget:

Unknown

Details about instrument financing:

As a result of the regulation, the funds for compensatory tree plantings need to be included in a budget of any investment conducted by municipal units or on municipal land - which was not the case previously. Although the regulation is only binding for municipal actors, the city tries to convince private developers to conduct compensatory plantings during their works as well, which resulted in some private funds being used to plant trees. Thanks to the regulation, the city was able to raise external regional and European funds for activities that support its implementation.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

The regulation introduces a requirement to collect and share with the municipality information related to trees and green areas. This information should be collected whenever any type of study relating to trees is conducted, in particular inventories, dendrological reports, projects, applications for administrative decisions or documentation following a construction project. The regulation specifies the format in which the data needs to be submitted - which in turn allows the city to monitor the location of trees in the city, planned tree removals as well as new plantings. The Green Spaces Authority compiles collected data and presents it to the Mayor twice a year in an internal report.

Did an evaluation take place?:

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

More trees have been planted on average than have been felled in the city every year for which records exist, except in 2021. The regulation allows the municipality to have full control over what happens to trees within urban developments and structures the rules for caring for trees right from the planning stage. The regulation requires special attention to be paid to the trees growing in the area of the planned development . For example when designing the routing of installations such as electric lines or piping, it is necessary to avoid collisions with trees and to plan solutions for the preservation of growing trees and their vitality. Information and plans for investments, cuttings and plantings is collected in the Spatial Information System which allowed the city to create a database that plans where new trees should be planted all over the city. The regulation allowed to raise awareness about the good standards of trees and greenery protection, and the related legal obligations across various municipal units. The Green Spaces Authority conducts regular internal trainings for representatives of various units as well as municipal workers involved directly in the works. Thanks to the regulation, it is more likely that a greenery or dendrology expert is hired to accompany the work.

Success factors and lessons learned:

The Green Spaces Authority underlines that to launch such a regulation that affects multiple units and actors across the city, it is essential to budget appropriate amount of time and resources and equip oneself with arguments and content knowledge to be able to face resistance and arguments from various actors. Good communication is also key. The regulation itself is a legal document, which is not written in an accessible manner. The Authority has therefore conducted a number of internal trainings to familiarise relevant actors with the regulation. As part of the regulation, the authority created binding standards for tree protection during construction (see UGA entry) that provide information on tree protection in a clear and accessible manner. It is also important to budget appropriate amount of resources and time to implement and enforce such a far-reaching regulation, affecting hundreds of players across the city.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

Prezydent Wrocławia (2019), ZARZĄDZENIE NR 1217/19 PREZYDENTA WROCŁAWIA z dnia 28 czerwca 2019 r. w sprawie ochrony drzew i rozwoju terenów zieleni Wrocławia. Available at: https://www.zzm.wroc.pl/userdata/2019-07-02-09-57-58/156206233162.pdf

ZZM (2022), Zarządzenie Prezydenta Wrocławia w sprawie ochrony drzew i rozwoju terenów zieleni Wrocławia, Available at: https://www.zzm.wroc.pl/pl/dzialania_zzm,366.html

Interview(s):

Wrocław Green Spaces Authority (Zarząd Zieleni Miejskiej Miasta Wrocławia)

Further documents

Documents:

Text of the regulation.pdf

Weblinks:

https://interlace-hub.com/binding-standards-tree-protection-during-construction-…

Photos

@Zarząd Zasobu Komunalnego Wrocław