Public consultation is underway for Yarra Ranges Council’s draft Tree Canopy Strategy discussed at the Tuesday 15 August ordinary council meeting.
The strategy will look to increase the tree canopy in order to aid climate issues, while also rebuilding the major losses of trees that we brought on by last year’s storms.
It was also driven by the council’s 2019 endorsement of the Living Melbourne: Our Metropolitan Urban Forest, a strategy for a greener, more liveable Melbourne, which required a tree canopy strategy to be endorsed by 2022.
The draft Tree Canopy Strategy recognises 11 key issues and detail of how Council will address these issues.
They are:
– Community Perception – Council will work with the public to help them understand the benefits of trees and to understand community concerns about trees;
– Urban Heat – DELWP have measured vulnerability to heat across Melbourne. Lilydale, Mooroolbark and Kilsyth have areas of moderately high to high heat vulnerability;
– Extreme Weather & Climate Change – our trees will be affected by a warming climate, storms and bushfire;
– Tree Diversity & Performance – many of our trees are in poor condition and the diversity of species is narrow;
– Vacant Street Tree Sites – there are more than 16,000 vacant sites in the Lilydale area and surrounding suburbs;
– Urban Development – our population is growing, and the associated development makes it difficult to have good tree cover unless it is well planned;
– Competing Infrastructure – our trees compete with other assets both above and below the ground;
– Infrastructure Projects – major projects, like new roads and level crossing removal, often involve trees having to be removed;
– Managing Culturally Significant Trees – Yarra Ranges is fortunate to have many culturally significant trees, but currently they are not managed as they should be;
– Managing Large Habitat Trees –there are many of these trees, and they provide high level biodiversity values and provide critical ecological services. However, there is a need for good management processes so the community can feel confident in having them in the landscape; and
– Best Practice Tree Management – tree management has changed significantly in recent years. It is now much more asset focussed – like roads and footpaths. Good data is required to manage these valuable assets.
