HAVE YOUR SAY on the draft Urban Forest Strategy by 5 pm on 10 September 2020
These all set a tree canopy target cover – for trees on both public land and on leased land – of 30 per cent by 2045.
This target will involve changes to the way the ACT Government manages our urban forest.
Trees have always been an important part of what makes Canberra a great place to live, work, and play. Trees also provide significant environmental benefits and play a key role in cooling our suburbs through their shade.
We know that to achieve our target of 30% canopy cover, we will need to plant over 450, 000 trees over the next 25 years. This is based on recent modelling undertaken by the CSIRO in 2019 using estimates on the useful life expectancy of public trees generated by previous tree condition audits to estimate annual tree losses. i-Tree software was used to model the number of tree plantings needed to reach 30% tree canopy cover by 2045.
You may be also interested in seeing just how beneficial these plantings in cooling summers in our own suburb. Please see the CSIRO report Meyers J, Devereux D, Van Niel T and Barnett G, 2017 Mapping surface urban heat in Canberra. CSIRO, Australia. Reid is specifically mentioned on p 28!
So, from an ACT-wide and Reid perspective, please consider making a submission on the draft Urban Forest Strategy by 5 pm 10 September.