Medellín, Colombia, is becoming increasingly green and environmentally conscious, with over 11,000 trees being planted in various public spaces throughout the city since the start of the current administration. This is part of the city’s contribution to its eco-city initiative. In the same period, more than 400,000 plants have also been planted in public spaces.
Species such as gualandayes, madroños, eastern stars, varasantas, and guayacanes not only enhance the landscape of Medellin but also act as real solutions to climate change. These trees clean the air by capturing CO2 emissions and producing oxygen, contributing to the thermal, water, and sound regulation of the city. Thanks to their lush and diverse leaves, various ecosystems are formed for fauna species, mainly birds, insects, and some mammals. The planting and conservation actions are led by the Secretary of Physical Infrastructure, with support from the Botanical Garden.
“We have a contract with the Botanical Garden that allows us to have work crews throughout the city. There are 120 gardeners who are permanently on the streets carrying out planting, irrigation, cleaning, pruning, pest eradication tasks, and many more,” explained the Secretary of Physical Infrastructure, Luisa Fernanda Gómez Villegas. These vegetation specialists are also responsible for performing forest surgeries on sick trees. After a prior evaluation, a procedure known as dendrosurgery is applied to improve and extend the life of the trees. This year, 161 treatments of this type have been carried out.
Another milestone is that 413,661 plants have been planted in public spaces during the four-year period. Also, 3,233,535 square meters of gardens have been conserved, to which maintenance, fertilization, humidification, and cleaning work have been carried out. These gardens feature a variety of species that adorn and add color to the city, including the yellow lily, the mother-in-law’s tongue, the daisy, the toscana, the heliconia, and the purple verbena, among others.
Medellín’s vegetation also includes arvenses, or spontaneous vegetation. These plants, commonly known as “weeds,” grow without being planted due to the nutrients abundant in the soil. These plants play a crucial role in biodiversity. Arvenses help counteract and neutralize the spread of any organism considered harmful to nature. In many cases, they also serve as medicinal plants, soil improvers, and sources for new crops. Currently, efforts are being made to incorporate arvenses into the city’s natural landscape to reduce the operational costs of maintaining the gardens.
For the planting, conservation, and maintenance of the city’s trees and plants, the Mayor’s Office of Medellín has invested COP $32 billion (approximately $8.5 million USD).