RRA Committee urges you sign the e-Petition to the Legislative Assembly requesting action to redress the continuing loss of trees in our Garden City.
Closing date: 15 March 2019
We are very fortunate to live in one of the coolest suburbs in Canberra. For further information see the CSIRO Urban Heat report
As stated in the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment ACT Tree Investigation report :
Trees have a range of positive effects on local climate conditions and are important in managing climate change. Trees in urban areas help mitigate climate change by taking up and storing carbon from the atmosphere. They can also indirectly reduce the production of greenhouse gases and also decrease the need for summer cooling through shading.
For all these reasons it is just so important that we assist in maintaining the extraordinary cooling benefits, the aesthetic and heritage values of our magnificent streetscapes.
The following residents of the ACT draw to the attention of the Assembly that street and park trees in our established suburbs are declining by around 3,000 a year because the ACT Government’s replanting program is inadequate.
Worse, the last report on this issue, from 7 years ago, showed that our streets and parks need 40,000 trees to fill gaps where trees are missing and to replace dead and dying trees.
Canberra’s urban trees are loved by the Canberra community. They provide shade to keep our suburbs cool in summer and are important for native birds and animals.
Trees will be even more important in future as our climate gets hotter. Planting trees now is an investment in the future of our city.
Your petitioners, therefore, request the Assembly to request the ACT Government to plant an extra 7,000 trees a year to reverse the decline, and begin restoring the city’s tree canopy.