Ghent to inspect 75,000 trees for safety after storm deaths
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The city of Ghent, Belgium, plans to inspect 75,000 trees over the next several years to assess their safety.
Ghent will spend over 350,000 euros on the project, which began this autumn and is scheduled to continue to 2028 with a possible two-year extension. City officials say the inspection is a continuation of existing tree management policies and is separate from responses to a fatal storm three years ago.
Inspectors will examine the trees for signs of damage or disease, choosing autumn as the best time to spot these issues. Ghent currently maintains approximately 75,000 trees in its streets and parks and wants to update its tree inventory. Since 2008, Ghent has conducted tree inspections every five years to ensure public safety and identify trees needing maintenance.
A judge ruled in June that Ghent was responsible for the deaths of a five-year-old Ukrainian boy and a 64-year-old German woman during Storm Ciarán, finding the city lacked a clear policy for checking trees in parks. Ghent appealed the ruling, but has since made adjustments to its tree policies, including annual checks of older trees in parks and inspections of 12,500 street trees last year.
