Our Urban Forest Strategy seeks to manage this change and protect against future vulnerability by providing a robust strategic framework for the evolution and longevity of Melbourne's urban forest.
The strategy aims to:
- adapt our city to climate change
- mitigate the urban heat island effect by bringing our inner-city temperatures down
- create healthier ecosystems
- become a water-sensitive city
- engage and involve the community.
We will achieve this by:
- increasing canopy cover from 22 per cent to 40 per cent by 2040
- increasing forest diversity with no more than five per cent of one tree species, no more than ten per cent of one genus and no more than 20 per cent of any one family
- improving vegetation health
- improving soil moisture
- improving biodiversity
- informing and consulting with the community.