Local services
The spring tree planting season for 2024 was launched next to the Kondoros water course by Deputy Mayor Ákos Balázs, Szabolcs Komolay, representative of the municipality and the Green Codex authors. Today, on World Water Day, a total of 22 native, small-leaved linden trees were planted along the Kondoros watercourse, which plays an important role in the second phase of the Civaqua programme, in the area around Doboz Street.
“On the World Water Day, the spring tree planting works started in Debrecen on the bank of the Kondoros, so the development of the green corridor in this area has also started,” Deputy Mayor Ákos Balázs emphasised. This occasion is in line with the measures of the Green Codex adopted at the last General Assembly. In this framework, the most important programme points among the people of Debrecen were the Civaqua programme and the continuation of tree planting.
Ákos Balázs stressed that thanks to the government’s decision, the Civaqua programme will continue with more than HUF 40 billion in funding, thus ensuring the water supply of Erdőspuszta lakes through Great Forest and Kondoros watercourse; and the city will provide the necessary funds for tree planting.
“Similar to the tree planting along the Tócó stream, these works will also begin on the banks of the Kondoros. Thus, thanks to the Civaqua program, a water ring, a blue ring will be created around the city and green corridors will be installed along them. Thanks to these measures, the city’s air quality and climatic conditions will also improve significantly,” the Deputy Mayor said.
Ákos Balázs especially thanked the experts who prepared the Green Code and the scientific staff of the University of Debrecen, in whose collaboration Debrecen will apply for the title of “Green Capital of Europe” in 2025. In this regard, he said that a number of good practices were reviewed from previously won tenders, where the program items related to the presence of water and the creation of green corridors were emphasised.
Szabolcs Komolay, the local municipality representative of the area said that three major announcements had been made in his district in the recent period; as the preparation of the Eastern bypass road had started, the development of water infrastructure in the Eastern part of the city will allow the expansion of several previously closed areas into residential areas, and the continuation of the tree planting programme, already implemented in several areas of the district, is important for improving the quality of life. He added that the vision of residents in the area is also in line with these measures.
Co-author of the Green Codex Orsolya Hamecz said that tree planting was one of the main guiding principles in the preparation of the city’s environmental programme. More than 600 new trees will be planted this spring, reaching the goal of the “Plant 10,000 trees” programme launched in 2019, and with it the planting of another 10,000 trees in the city. She said that the new measure will involve the planting of fruit trees in the city in addition to ornamental trees.
Head of the Biodiversity Research Centre at the University of Debrecen and co-author of the Green Codex Szabolcs Lengyel said that when looking at biodiversity in the environment, a lot of research shows that blue infrastructure has a more natural effect when it is built alongside trees. Thus, in developing the Green Codex, particular attention was paid to ensuring that biodiversity is maximised in urban habitats.
Technical Secretary of Tiszántúl Water Management Directorate Attila Szegi spoke about the tasks of the continuation of the Civaqua programme. The first and most important task is to supply water to the north and east of the town from the reservoir built at Bodaszőlő through closed pipelines and open surface basins, which will later supply the Great Forest and the Erdőspuszta lakes.
Source: debrecen.hu
