Arborist Maciej Motas: - Concrete cities? This trend is behind us

• Climate change, partly caused by urbanisation, is shaping the profession of arborists today. In addition to caring for trees, they are fighting the scourge of concrete in cities.
• We think we know trees. It turns out, however, that they can always surprise us, and arborists have been learning about them all their lives.
• Maciej Motas graduated from a school of architectural restoration and had his own studio before he started working with trees. He was persuaded to study at UPWr by a colleague, Professor Monika Ziemiańska.

An arborist is a specialist in the care and treatment of trees and more. They are a person who shares responsibility for entire ecosystems, their formation and protection. The profession of arborist is one of the most dangerous professions in the world. As Maciej Motas emphasises, it requires stamina, concentration and physical fitness.

– In Poland, we work at heights of up to 40 metres, in all weather conditions, and we don’t always have access to fixed belay points. So we can’t afford to be physically weak. A tired man makes mistakes, and there is no room for them in this profession – warns Maciej Motas, while emphasising that the work of an arborist is extremely rewarding, comparing it to steering a sailing ship. – When the wind blows hard, the whole thing moves. And we’re on the ropes and are at the mercy of the elements. It's very demanding work, but it puts us in touch with nature. We also meet various animals in the trees, of course less during felling or maintenance, mainly during recreation. For example, when sleeping in a tree in a hammock, you can watch birds and they’re not afraid of us. They land on the hammocks, they walk around us. They don't expect a human in the crown of the tree, so they don't identify us as a threat – says the graduate.

Urban greening is now more important than ever

The scientific approach to the optimal time to carry out treatments has changed: whereas in the past it was mainly carried out during the dormant period of the plant, it is now known that it is best carried out during the active period, because the trees then better compensate for the wounds that are caused by pruning. Arborists therefore work closely with ecologists so as not to harm the ecosystem.

– We have to take into account the bird breeding season, when work on trees is restricted. We encounter a variety of protected organisms from fungi and lichens to birds, mammals or insects. We have to be careful and work with ecologists. Our field is growing rapidly, and the greater the problems with climate, the more we are needed – says Maciej Motas. 

The scientific consensus on climate change is clear – over 99% of scientists believe that global warming is caused by human activity. The number of people is also invariably increasing and the world is urbanising – by 2030 60% of us will live in cities. Urbanised areas, although only covering 3% of the Earth's surface, account for 60-70% of energy consumption and 75% of carbon emissions.

Urbanisation and the scourge of concrete hasn’t spared Polish cities, which severely lack greenery. This is creating more "urban heat islands". Concrete is particularly troublesome and dangerous in summer, as a hot yard in the sun can reach temperatures of over 50 degrees Celsius, but there is also good news.

– I think concrete cities are a song of the past. This trend is behind us and nowadays the exact opposite is happening. Nowadays we have a lot of projects, whether in Lower Silesia or Poland in general, involving the removal and greening of pavements that have been renovated relatively recently. This can also be seen in the fact that there is a shortage of trees in planting nurseries – says Maciej Motas, pointing out that ten years ago around three hundred trees were planted annually in Wrocław. Five years ago it was about a thousand, and at the moment, several thousand are planted each year.  

– So you can see that we have an upward trend. Our current investments mainly consist of avenue plantings along the streets. It seems to me that the most important challenge now is for us city dwellers to learn how to look after trees. That's what you have to focus on – says the graduate and addresses the younger generations of students: – In landscape architecture, it is very important to be in touch with nature and to be aware of plants as a material to work with. Designing in isolation from nature and the raw material of plants makes no sense.

An arborist learns about trees all his life

As Maciej Motas says, the work of an arborist is a lifelong challenge. – One is constantly learning about trees, and as one gets older, one humbly admits that the more one knows, the more difficult it is to make decisions.'We are doing more and more complicated expertises and we have more and more respect for trees as living organisms, their capabilities, their skills, because these constantly surprise us – says the arborist.

This job inspired both of Maciej Motas's sons to work in the same profession as their father. – My older son looks after trees in Switzerland, and my younger son is also involved with trees. It's a passion that takes over a person for life and is passed on to others. And besides, people know relatively little about maintaining trees in the city. Therefore, it is a very interesting profession in terms of design and tree protection. I have worked for about 20-25 years up in the trees, and nowadays I do expert appraisals, which I carry out using, among other things, acoustic tomography to examine the extent of cavities, I do load tests, I study their stability. On top of that, together with my team, we design and plant. The next project involves planting trees along the Wielka Wyspa Avenue. We have 850 trees and 45,000 shrubs to plant. The work of an arborist varies from carrying out maintenance, expert opinions, projects, tree protection through to supervising investments, says the graduate

From church towers to treetops

Maciej Motas graduated from a school for the restoration of architectural monuments and had his own studio before he started working with trees. At that time, he also gained qualifications for working at heights. – Among other things, I had worked on church towers, but as a nature lover, a resident of green Sępolno and a frequent visitor to Szczytnicki Park, I decided to use my height qualifications to work with trees. It turned out, however, that this work is the opposite of renovation, because monuments are all about detail and concentration, and working with trees is more like sport, sailing – you're surrounded by nature, the wind, but it's also a fun adventure – says Maciej Motas, for whom trees have become his greatest passion. That's why he decided to further his education in this field. Over time, he became familiar with the biology of trees, their maintenance and care. 

He was encouraged to study at the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, then called the Agricultural University, by a colleague who at the time, Motas says, was looking after greenery at UPWr. – I met Prof. Monika Ziemiańska at work. In an elevator basket – laughs Maciej Motas, adding that he immediately noticed that he was dealing with a passionate arborist. – I remember her wanting to immediately put on a helmet and pick up a giant metre-long saw to get to work. It was on the felling of a huge tree. She was the one who encouraged me to study landscape architecture – recalls Maciej Motas, who did all the possible professional qualifications related to the arboricultural industry in Poland and then, due to the lack of opportunities for further education, decided to open his own school to teach people how to work on trees. First in cooperation with the newly established Arboretum in Pawlowice, and later in cooperation with the centre in Kórnik, where there is a branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences dealing with dendrology.

– I taught classes there for eight years and trained around 400 people to work with trees. In the meantime, I became interested in recreational climbing, but it was not easy to learn it in Poland. I did a course as a recreational instructor at the University of Physical Education in Wrocław, but there was still no such thing as a course in tree climbing – says Maciej Motas with a smile, which is why he decided to go to the United States, to Atlanta – a city where, in his opinion, the most beautiful and diverse dendroflora in North America is. There, he completed courses related to recreational climbing. Both basic and instructor courses. From there, his extensive professional experience also included work with rope parks.

Maciej Motas was also the founder and president of the Federation of Polish Arborists in 2010-2012, and is currently a member of: the board of the Lower Silesian section of the Landscape Architecture Association, the Polish Dendrological Society, the scientific council at Park Szczytnicki in Wrocław, and is a supervisor of tree stand work.

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