Radio Country: Why Australia gave email addresses to 70,000 trees

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Why Australia gave email addresses to 70,000 trees


	February 11, 2025

Original photo by Ongkan/ Shutterstock

Melbourne, Australia, gave email addresses to 70,000 trees.

It began as a bit of creative problem-solving. Some trees in Melbourne, Australia, had dangerous branches that needed to be trimmed and other issues, prompting city officials in 2013 to give 70,000 of them ID numbers and email addresses where people could report problems. As an "unintended but positive consequence" of the program, according to Councilor Arron Wood of Melbourne's Environment Portfolio, people began writing their favorite trees whimsical letters. "I have exams coming up and I should be busy studying," one reads. "You do not have exams because you are a tree. I don't think that there is much more to talk about as we don't have a lot in common, you being a tree and such. But I'm glad we're in this together."

That one, addressed to Green Leaf Elm, Tree ID 1022165, even received a response: "I hope you do well in your exams. Research has shown that nature can influence the way people learn in a positive way, so I hope I inspire your learning." The initiative's website (the program is still going strong) features a map of every tree as well as links to their email addresses, should you feel like writing a love letter of your own. The responses are actually crafted by employees at the City of Melbourne — and as of 2018, the trees had received more than 4,000 emails from all over the world.

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		Numbers Don't Lie

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The U.S. has more trees now than it did 100 years ago.

When it comes to trees, the more the merrier. So while it may come as a surprise to learn that there are more trees in the U.S. today than there were a century ago, at least it's a pleasant one. Forest growth has exceeded harvest since the 1940s, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, and by 1997, growth exceeded harvest by a full 42%. Quantity isn't always the same as quality, as old-growth forests contain the most biodiversity and are generally the best for the environment, but conservation efforts (including good old fashioned tree-planting) have been remarkably successful.

Today's edition of Interesting Facts was written by Michael Nordine and edited by Bess Lovejoy.