The fifth large tree planting in Canberra’s history is to see tens of thousands of new trees planted in the city by 2024.
To be funded in the upcoming Territory Budget, the proposed program was described by the Minister for Transport and City Services, Chris Steel as one of the largest plantings in Canberra’s history.
“It will help us to grow our city’s forest to ensure it is sustainable, resilient and contributes to the wellbeing of our community in a changing climate,” Mr Steel said.
“We want all Canberrans to enjoy the benefits of streets and parks lined with healthy trees and this investment will secure 54,000 additional trees by 2024,” he said.
“To boost this planting effort, the ACT Government will also fund the popular Adopt-a-Park initiative for another three years, following a successful pilot program.”
Mr Steel said the program provided grants to community groups so that they could become involved in caring for local parks and open spaces.
“This is about empowering volunteers who care for our parks, those who want their suburb to be climate resilient and want their neighbourhoods to receive all of the benefits that trees bring,” the Minister said.
“We’ve seen huge interest from locals in being involved in micro forest projects in parks in suburbs across Canberra.”
He said the Adopt-a-Park program would have Government partnering with more communities to plant new trees and improve biodiversity in local neighbourhoods across.
“This significant ramp up in tree planting puts us on track to meet our commitment of boosting canopy cover to 30 per cent by 2045,” Mr Steel said.
