City trees are an incredible green resource but are under serious assault. Banksy’s stark image shows the damage being done
Amid the excitement around Banksy’s latest art piece – a tree mural unveiled on a wall in Islington, north London – very little is being said about the tree at the centre of the story, a brutally pollarded 50-year-old cherry, and what it communicates about the way our urban trees are “managed”.
I visited it on Monday, just 10 minutes’ cycle from my house, and stood startled by the large, leafless tree, its bark darkened by pollution. It splays upwards like an agonised hand, with green paint – literal green wash – splashed up the wall behind it by a woman holding a pressure washer. But gradually I felt horrified, dismayed as the media filmed stories and crowds of people smiled, cooed and held their phones aloft for the latest Instagrammable image. People talked about whether the work could be “stolen” and the effect it would have on house prices and rents.
Gio Iozzi is a London-based writer and tree campaigner who set up Haringey Tree Protectors
