Page 3220 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 10 November 2021
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
points to a need for ongoing education and engagement to ensure that as many Canberrans as possible are aware of the benefits of our urban forest and support actions to maintain and enhance it.
The strategy recognises that increasing Canberra’s canopy cover also delivers biodiversity and cultural heritage outcomes. By collaborating across the ACT government with community groups like ACT for Bees and with the Ngunnawal community, we have developed a comprehensive approach to planning and implementing on-ground actions to improve biodiversity and wildlife habitat while honouring and protecting Ngunnawal culture.
To list just a few key actions, we have further developed a “tree selector” online education tool which, when completed, will assist the community to choose the right tree species for their residence; we have created educational information on how to care for street trees; we have identified sites where natural regeneration around mature trees can be promoted through changing land management practices; we have undertaken site assessments and awareness raising to better identify and protect Ngunnawal heritage values; and we have incorporated plant species of significance to Ngunnawal people into the municipal infrastructure standards for tree species.
Practical on-ground assistance has been provided to re-use the by-product of urban forest maintenance activities to “close the loop” and provide mulch and other products for beneficial re-use. In 2020-21 the ACT government provided over 3,000 cubic metres of mulch to community groups, as well as 900 large logs for nature play, park improvements and habitat restoration projects.
Further funding has been allocated in the most recent budget to support an expansion of re-use for community benefit and assist in creating a circular economy. This includes the procurement of a truck and loader to enable the distribution and re-use of wood by-products and investigations into a drying kiln to produce sawn timber for use by schools in the community.
While it has been a busy start for implementation of the Urban Forest Strategy, there is a lot more work to do, and we are getting on with that. The 2021-22 budget provided $14.9 million of investment for a significant expansion of our tree-planting effort over the coming years, which is a level of planting that greatly exceeds any previous planting efforts made in this century.
We will be prioritising the new plantings in vacant street tree sites located in areas with low canopy cover and an increased vulnerability to urban heat. We will also focus on planting along active travel routes within suburbs with lower canopy cover, because we know that shade makes a big difference to people’s willingness to hop on a bike or travel by foot during Canberra’s hot summers.
Tree planting in existing gaps in our canopy is rightly the focus in the coming few years. However, it is only one element of a complex and ongoing task to protect and enhance our urban forest. In the coming years, our focus will also turn to renewal, through the replacement of trees that have reached the end of their life and require replacement with a new tree. This will be challenging for the community as
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video