In a city already choked by traffic, dust and pollution, trees are not a decorative detail. They are vital infrastructure for life. Yet in Bucharest in 2009, trees had come to be treated as free advertising boards.
Nails hammered into trunks. Wires tightened around bark. Chains, signs, banners and direction boards. A seemingly trivial phenomenon — but with real and serious effects.
Why this is dangerous for trees
A tree is not a pole. Beneath its bark lies a living, extremely sensitive system: the vascular tissues that carry water and nutrients between the roots and the crown.
In a city where trees are already under pressure, these attacks become critical.
Why it matters to us
Bucharest has too few trees for its level of pollution. Those that remain:
The intervention
On 10 April 2009, Agent Green launched the “Free the Trees” campaign — a simple, direct action: removing illegal advertisements from trees in the capital.
The volunteer team went into the field with screwdrivers, pliers, pincers and ladders — and a clear mission: to give trees back their chance to grow normally.
The campaign in the field
The campaign took place across all 6 districts of Bucharest.
Moreover, the dismantled illegal advertisements were taken and left in the courtyards of the district authorities that ignored the problem — a direct, visible gesture, impossible to overlook.
The people who made a difference
18
volunteers saw the campaign through
6
Not just organisations. Not just institutions. But people who chose to stop ignoring the problem. Including citizens who joined spontaneously and removed dozens of advertisements from their own neighbourhoods.
The results
After two months of interventions:
481
trees freed
Hundreds
of illegal advertisements and signs removed
All materials were collected separately and sent for recycling.
The real problem
Legal responsibility exists. But without action, the law remains only on paper.
Why it mattered
Because it demonstrated that change begins simply: with a decision, a tool, a gesture.
What remains
Perhaps not every tree was saved. Perhaps not every advertisement disappeared. But something changed:
Trees need us. And we need them.
Support Agent Green’s efforts to protect nature in Romania’s cities and forests.
Donate now