Take a walk in Delhi in May, and you’ll notice the heat rising from the pavement even after dark. The air hangs heavy between the concrete buildings. In Bengaluru, people who once needed sweaters in the mornings now sweat through the night, since urban forests that once cooled the city have been replaced by new construction. In Hyderabad, students protested in April 2025 when 400 acres of green land were cleared for an IT park, a conflict that ultimately reached the Supreme Court. These events are not happening in isolation. They are part of a bigger crisis across urban India: our cities are losing green spaces faster than they can be replaced, and the impact is now clear to everyone. The numbers tell the story. A 2024 study in Heliyon found that Delhi’s built-up area grew from 7.67 per cent in 1977 to 38.28 per cent by 2014 and could reach 53.83 per cent by 2030, largely replacing farmland and forests. Another review showed that urban wetlands can cool nearby areas by about 4.7-4.9°C, and street trees lower air temperatures by about 3.8°C on average. The 2025 Lancet Countdown Report on India found that extreme heat in 2024 resulted in the loss of 247 billion potential labour hours and an economic loss of US$ 194 billion. Urban India is not just getting hotter; it is also losing wealth. Solutions exist. Now, India needs a way to put them into action. I work as a Community Woodland Officer with North East Community Forest in England, one of 15 Community Forests in the country. A Community Forest is not just a traditional forest. It includes urban neighbourhoods, farmland, old industrial sites, and the green spaces in between, all focused on planting trees and making green spaces accessible. When these forests began in