The Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate has released a progress update on its goal to increase Canberra’s tree canopy to 30 per cent by 2045.
In a statement, the Directorate said it had been working to implement its Urban Forest Strategy 2021-2045 since it was launched in March of this year.
“We’ve completed the Street Forestry Pilot and renewed support for new and established community groups under the Adopt a Park and Urban Parks and Places community volunteer programs,” the Directorate said.
“These groups help with planting and maintenance of our urban forest as well as educating the local community on the benefits of trees,” it said.
“In addition, we also held the seventh annual Canberra Tree Week with many individual events held for Canberrans to not only celebrate all things trees, but to continue to learn about the value of trees.”
The Directorate said all of these community engagement initiatives were expected to make cumulative, long-term contributions to achieve the canopy cover target.
It said that, by the end of the current spring planting season, more than 9,000 trees would have been planted in Canberra this year.
“Our tree planting programs are being informed by the online tree planting map, where Canberrans can select a location they’d like to see a tree planted,” it said.
“More than 3,000 requests have been made to date.”
The Directorate said it planned to plant more than 54,000 trees across the ACT by 2024 to enhance the city’s urban forest.
It said planting locations would focus on existing gaps in streets and parks, especially on areas that were vulnerable to heat due to lower canopy cover and along active travel routes.
