Hobartians are being urged to grab a free tree from a pop-up urban forest in the Elizabeth Street Mall over the next two days and have their say on the development of a new urban tree strategy for Hobart.
City of Hobart arborists will also be on hand with advice about how to properly plant and care for young trees as part of a push to encourage more people to grow trees on their property and help grow Hobart's urban tree canopy cover to 40 per cent by 2046.
With 89 per cent of actions in the 2017 City of Hobart Street Tree Strategy now complete or ongoing, we are reaching out to the community to help us set the direction for the new strategy.
To treat yourself to a free tree, residents just need to carry out a five-minute survey to inform the development of a new urban tree strategy for Hobart, due out for public consultation next year.
All trees are native to Tasmania: dogwood, hopbush, manuka, woolly teatree, lemon bottlebrush, blackwood, white peppermint and black she-oak.
People can also contribute to the development of a new Urban Tree Strategy for Hobart by visiting the Your Say Hobart website.
Quotes to be attributed to Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds:
"Today we are launching a three-month community engagement blitz to help us develop a new urban tree strategy and set the direction for urban tree management in Hobart for the next five years.
"We want to hear from as many people as possible about how as a community we can plant more trees on private and public land and grow our urban tree canopy.
"We are also giving away 400 tubestock trees over the next two days to encourage more people to plant a tree in their garden and help grow Hobart's urban tree canopy.
"The City of Hobart has an ambitious goal of increasing our urban tree canopy cover to 40 per cent but we can't do it on our own, we need the public to plant more trees in their own gardens to help us get there.
"We want people to plant a tree today for a brighter future tomorrow, create a more climate resilient city and help grow Hobart's urban tree canopy."
Quotes attributable to City of Hobart City Greening Lead Ruby Wolfe:
"While Hobart is surrounded by beautiful forests our city and urban areas are not doing so well, and some of our suburbs are even losing trees.
"A strong and healthy urban tree canopy is essential for a healthy and resilient city.
"Urban trees, whether planted on our streets, in people's gardens or in our parks improve air quality and reduce flooding.
"Urban trees are also becoming increasingly important as shade providers and to help fend off hotter temperatures in the city and our suburbs as the climate warms."
