The Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate (TCCS) used National Tree Day last Sunday (29 July) to encourage citizens passionate about a tree to consider placing it on the ACT Tree Register.
Manager of Urban Treescapes at the Directorate, Rachael Dawes said the Register had more than 200 entries since it was introduced in 2006, registering individual trees on public and private land as well as groups of trees like the 2,685 in Haig Park.
“TCCS works hard to manage the urban forest and ensure it is safe and provides amenity to our city, and the ACT Tree Register helps celebrate the exceptional trees in our city,” Ms Dawes said.
She said four videos had been published on the TCCS website to tell the story of the ACT Tree Register and introduce members of the community who had registered trees with a unique history.
She said the stories included a Maple tree received from the Canadian Government as well as Olive, Pear and Osage orange trees with living links to Canberra’s early settlers in the 1800s.
Ms Dawes said the Register was administered under the Tree Protection Act 2005 with trees meeting criteria placed on the provisional register for up to 12 months before they were placed on the full register.
“Trees must be located in built up urban areas and possess natural or cultural values, landscape and aesthetic values or scientific values,” Ms Dawes said.
National Tree Day, an initiative of Planet Ark, is Australia’s largest tree planting and nature care event.
She said members of the TCCS Urban Treescapes team would be planting up to 20 trees in Weston Park tomorrow (3 August), to resurrect some of the historical planting patterns from the park’s masterplan as a tribute to Charles Weston.
