The Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate is growing the city’s tree canopy by empowering Canberrans to decide what types of trees are planted throughout their suburbs and streets.
Minister for Transport and City Services, Chris Steel said tree plantings had commenced in 31 streets across six Canberra suburbs as part of the Directorate’s pilot street forestry program.
“We have engaged more than 1,100 Canberrans in our pilot street forestry program since it launched in March,” Mr Steel said.
“The program lets local residents decide what types of trees they want planted in their street and then supports them with information on how to care for those trees once they’re in the ground,” he said.
“Through this program we will be planting more than 400 trees over the next couple of months.”
Mr Steel said the program was also gathering information on what people valued and prioritised about street trees and the best ways to involve residents before trees were planted.
The Minister said streets in Bonython, Florey, Kambah, Mawson, Ngunnawal and Scullin were taking part in the first round of planting because heat mapping identified those areas would particularly benefit from more trees to help cool the neighbourhood.
“Feedback through the pilot indicates that nature strips tend to be the preferred location for street trees, with native trees that are medium in size being particularly popular,” he said.
“Residents and community members have shown a fantastic level of engagement with the program and we’ll all be keenly following the health and growth of these newly planted trees.”
Mr Steel said people could still request a tree to be planted in selected areas following the completion of the street forestry program.
Further information on the tree plantings, including how to request one, can be accessed at this PS News link.
