Brussels, (Brussels Morning)- Do you have a hazel tree in your street, or an elderberry bush in your garden? And have you always wondered whether those fruits are safe to eat? Now is your chance: the Arbres research project is investigating how polluted Brussels nuts and fruits are. For that, the researchers need your help. The results are expected by the end of the year, says BRUZZ.
“Brussels is a city with many trees. But why are there horse chestnut trees everywhere, the fruits of which are inedible, rather than ordinary chestnut trees? In Caracas, there are mango trees everywhere, in Seville they are orange trees. Why doesn’t that happen with us? ” That’s what Simon De Muynck, researcher at the ULB and project coordinator at the Brussels non-profit organisation Centre d’Ecologie Urbaine, told La Libre a while ago .
In addition to the usual ‘ecosystem services’ that trees provide – for example, they absorb abundant rainwater, provide coolness and shade during heat waves and serve as a food source for birds and insects – Brussels street trees could also provide fruit to casual passers-by who fancy a healthy snack. . Together with Velt, Brussels Environment and the municipalities of Uccle and Forest, the CEU therefore set up the participatory research project Arbres.
With this, the organisations want to investigate how more fruit trees can be planted in Brussels, and how they can contribute to a resilient food system.
Wanted: 12 types of nuts and fruits
One of the questions that Arbres wants to answer is the impact of pollution on fruit trees in the Brussels region. To this end, the researchers are looking for fruit trees along public roads in the region, or in private gardens. They look for at least 12 types of nuts and fruits: from walnut, chestnut and hazelnut trees, elder, blackberry and rosehip bushes, to apple, fig and plum trees, cherry trees and grapevines.
The researchers want to see how contaminated the fruits and the soil in which the plants grow are. And that in as many different places as possible: in private gardens, along street facades, in parks and so on. That’s why they call on the public to report where trees and shrubs grow with the 12 wanted types of fruits via this form. Anyone who has fruit in their own Brussels garden can also let us know in the same way.
The researchers will come to pick up some fruits. After collection and analysis, the results will be announced, possibly at the end of 2022.
Arbres – or ‘Arboriculture Régionale Bruxelles pour une Résilience Ecologique et Solidaire’ – is funded by the regional innovation agency Innoviris and will run from March 2021 to March 2024.
