Poor weather, staff shortages and even some community hostility to new trees have slowed the expansion of Canberra’s urban forest.
The ACT government aims to have tree canopies covering 30 per cent of suburban areas by 2045, including public and private land.
However, it fell behind schedule over the past year, planting 5,350 fewer trees than intended — a shortfall of 30 per cent.
The City Services Directorate said several factors were to blame.
Its annual report referred to procurement delays, staff turnover, limited contractor availability and “persistent wet weather impeding access for planting”.
It also cited “refusal of street tree plantings by adjacent residents”.
Meanwhile, a separate government report identifies damage to street trees, and their illegal removal, as a threat to the urban forest.
ACT Environment and Sustainability Commissioner Sophie Lewis, who monitors the government’s progress, said the extent of illegal felling was unclear.
She speculated that Canberrans might remove street trees because they wanted to park vehicles on their nature strips, they disliked the species or they simply didn’t want trees near their home.
Nature strips are public land and parking on them is illegal in the ACT. Those who do it can be fined up to $3,200.
Nonetheless, it remains a common practice across most suburbs.
The directorate has highlighted the damage this parking causes, saying cars permanently compact the soil, which removes air and the ability of water to seep into the soil.
Parked vehicles also crush tree roots.
The directorate says street trees reduce stormwater run-off, cool suburbs down, are vital for wildlife and are associated with higher property prices.
Environment Minister Rebecca Vasserotti said everyone loved having trees in their area, but they “sometimes present some challenges” for individuals.
“Sometimes there’s issues around safety, and around amenity, and there are sometimes some challenges with competing needs around things like solar panels,” she said.
She said Canberrans could influence how trees were planted in their street and asked them to become involved.
“Community members can identify areas where there needs to be trees,” she said.
“There is work that’s done to identify the best species of trees to be planted in different areas of the city — this is an ongoing piece of work.”
