Friday, 4 November 2011
Securing the future of Melbourne’s iconic parks, trees and open spaces is the key focus of two draft plans released by the City of Melbourne today.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said Council’s draft Urban Forest Strategy and draft Open Space Strategy would ensure healthier, greener and more resilient landscapes and open spaces over the next 100 years.
“Trees are a defining part of Melbourne. We live in the world’s most liveable city and our parks, gardens, green spaces and tree-lined streets contribute enormously to this status,” the Lord Mayor said.
“However more than a decade of drought, severe water restrictions and periods of extreme heat, combined with an ageing tree stock have put our trees under immense stress and many are now in a state of accelerated decline.
“Our research shows that 27 per cent of the current tree population will be lost within 10 years and 44 per cent within 20 years. We need to take action now. We need to actively remove those declining trees and replace them with an increased number of healthy new trees, so that we offset this loss.
“The draft Urban Forest Strategy will play a pivotal role in helping us develop a landscape for future generations that is equal to and even better than what we have today,” the Lord Mayor said.
Some of the key targets of the Urban Forest Strategy include increasing the city’s canopy cover from 22 per cent to 40 per cent, cultivating an urban forest that will be made up of no more than five per cent of one tree species and achieving a tree population that is 90 per cent healthy by 2040.
Chair of the Future Melbourne (Eco-City) Committee, Councillor Cathy Oke said diversifying the city’s tree stock is a critical action that will minimise future vulnerability of the urban forest to threats such as extreme weather conditions and attack from pests and diseases.
“We have close to 60,000 trees in the city. Many of them were planted at the same time and now they are reaching the end of their life at the same time. Many others are also declining because of conditions imposed by the recent drought.
“Diversifying and increasing our tree stock will prevent this kind of situation in the future, and will see the urban forest cope much better under all sorts of weather conditions,” Cr Oke said.
She added that increasing the city’s tree canopy had many benefits, including making the city cooler in summer.
“Built up cities can be four to seven degrees hotter than areas outside the city. Research shows that doubling canopy cover can reduce city temperatures by two to four degrees.
If we can increase our tree canopy cover, then we can cool the city down considerably. A cooler city contributes immensely to the physical and mental health of city users.”
“The startling fact is that in 2009 more people died in heat waves (374) across metropolitan Melbourne than on Victoria’s roads (226)” Cr Oke said.
The draft Urban Forest Strategy is complemented by the draft Open Space Strategy which proposes to increase the amount of both large and small open spaces to accommodate a growing population.
Council will consider both draft documents at the Future Melbourne Committee Meeting on Tuesday 8 November and be asked to grant permission for public consultation.
Residents and other city users are encouraged to contribute their thoughts and feedback on individual precincts.