Lesson 3 Nature & Us
Letters to Nature
Dear ____ Whenever I walk past you, your beautiful leaves bring a smile to my face.
Whenever I stop in front of you and take a deep breath of fresh ____ I appreciate the oxygen that you produce.
Without you and all your friends, we humans wouldn’t ____ able to get enough oxygen.
By ____ way, I noticed that a family of birds has made a nest in your branches.
It’s ____ kind of you to provide them with a home.
I hope that more people realize how important you and all the other trees are to ____ environment. Have a nice day!
Believe it ____ not, trees in Melbourne, Australia receive emails like this all the time.
How is it possible that trees have ____ addresses?
And why are people sending ____ messages?
The story behind these emails
The story behind these emails begins with Melbourne’s Urban Forest Strategy plan, a response ____ Australia’s millennium drought.
This drought ____ from the late 1990s to 2010.
By the time it ended, 40 percent of the city’s 77,000 trees were ____ a state of declining health.
____ the overall number of trees was decreasing.
As a result, the amount of shade provided by trees within the city, ____ known as canopy cover, decreased.
The loss of canopy cover is a ____ threat to urban environments because it raises temperatures.
Higher temperatures in ____ can be dangerous for residents, as they increase the risk of heat exhaustion.
They also lead to a rise in the use of ____
This speeds up ____ change by increasing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Something had to be done
Something had to ____ done to deal with the loss of Melbourne’s trees.
In 2012, the city government announced its Urban Forest Strategy ____
It set the ambitious goal of ____ more than 3,000 trees every year for the next twenty years.
The plan also involved the creation of an online ____ called the Urban Forest Visual.
This interactive map shows the location of ____ single tree in the city’s parks and along its roads.
It uses colors and symbols to indicate each tree’s ____ and genus.
Also, users can click on a tree to find out its species ____ even send it an email.
At first, the “Email this tree” function ____ a specific purpose.
It was designed to allow people to easily inform council workers about trees that ____ damaged or in poor health.
After the map was posted
____ the map was posted online, something unexpected happened.
The trees started receiving ____ of emails, but many of them were not reports about damage or poor health.
Instead, they were love letters, poems, greetings, and messages expressing appreciation ____ the trees.
One person wrote, “I love ____ way the light shines on your leaves and how your branches hang so low.
It is almost like you are trying ____ hug me.”
The tree mail phenomenon quickly spread, ____ people all over the world started sending messages.
A message that was sent all the ____ from Russia said,
“When I read about this wonderful project, I was inspired ____ write to you, even though I live thousands of miles away.
Although we are separated by a great distance, we ____ the same planet and the same environment.
Perhaps one day we will meet. Until then, I hope ____ can stay healthy and strong.”
The global popularity of the tree mail phenomenon reminds us that we are all ____ to nature, and we are all involved in building a more sustainable world.
Without collective action from people across the globe, ____ would have little hope of saving our planet for future generations.
Locally, the tree mail
Locally, the tree mail phenomenon has inspired many Melbourne residents to offer their own ideas about building ____ environmentally friendly urban environment.
Some have even volunteered to measure trees and monitor animals ____ nature programs in the city.
____ the Urban Forest Strategy’s tree planting project has remained on track,
and canopy cover is predicted to increase from 23 percent in 2012 to 40 percent by the year ____
Melbourne’s urban forest ____ will help keep the city cool.
____ will also allow residents to interact with nature and engage in outdoor activities every day.
As a result, residents ____ be happier and healthier as they move toward a greener future.