A View from the Arboricultural Association

To Share My experience of i-Tree Eco in Australia as guest of Arb Australia and the journey of the Tree team at Banyule City Council The MoU entered into and the role of the AA

From X to Y to Z The journey from a detailed i-Tree Eco evaluation 2013/2014 To a working proposal to influence Council thinking May 2013 To a Strategic Plan in July in 2014 for public consumption and implementation

Who are they The City of Banyule is a local government area 63 kilometres in Victoria, Australia in the north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, 7 and 21 km from central Melbourne Population of 118, ,000 street trees

The Council Council make decisions based upon a range of information sources which include legislation, research, and evidence of good practice. Which don’t? The Council recognises that the community is made up of people from different backgrounds, ages, interests and perspectives and encourages all residents and community members to participate. Which don’t ? The Tree Officers form part of the Environmental Planning team and the work is conducted in house.

Step X - the outcome of an i-Tree Eco project An i-Tree Eco analysis was commissioned of the urban street tree population –a public tree inventory 11,604 trees assessed from a population of 60,917 approx. 20% i- Tree Eco used to help quantify the urban forest structure, its function and values Like with all Councils finances are tight and spend and investment tightly controlled, highly political and monitored

Urban Forest Functions and Values Air pollution removal Carbon storage Annual carbon removal (sequestration) Changes in building energy use Rainfall interception

Additional data Addional data collected whilst on site - much cheaper than coming back Remedial works Life expectancy distribution Risk rating

Findings – a surprise In addition to the I-Tree data it was found that Street tree population declining - the data suggested that the current number of trees within the population was static. If planting mortality of new trees, which was high, was taken into account, it was highly probable that the street tree population was actually decreasing. Over-mature trees in a streetscape environment would enter into a status of decline, increasing the amount of hazards present, due to declining canopy health and structural defects. An environment typically assessed to be a very low risk would within a short period of years increase to a high risk.

Consequence: greater risks from trees within streets, higher management costs, and a significant loss of environmental and amenity benefits.

Aims of the Team Based on the i-Tree Eco inventory they determined that a significant increase in annual planting needed to commence immediately. It was identified that 2000 additional trees should be planted in streets annually to improve generational succession and counter the potential identified issues. In addition to standard replacement planting for annually removed trees

Recommendations To improve the quality and function of the Banyule City Council urban forest it was identified that: The use of larger longer living trees, where appropriate, would significantly increase environmental benefits. The diversification of species selection and quantities would reduce potential risks related to pest and disease. Species with broader canopy areas would reduce peak load on storm water systems, improve pollution removal and alleviate urban heat island effects. Increase annual planting and fill currently available vacant plantings, 20,000 to offset the potential for a major decline in the extent and quality of the urban forest.

Step Y- influencing policy makers The Tree Team therefore wanted to take the analysis from i-Tree Eco and translate it into messages which would resonate with the local councillors and the public to produce a proposition which persuaded,using facts and dollars, the Councillors of the need to commit too an urban forest strategy. To obtain their “buy in” as significant investment would be required to achieve a timed, resourced and funded strategic and operational plan

How to get from X to Y To build upon the strategic plan in place and persuade Council that there was a need for the development of an Urban Forest Management Plan and a Street Tree Master Plan to see urban trees as valuable pieces of civic infrastructure. produce a proposition which captured the i-Tree Eco data in a format which resonated with Council taking into account politics, public opinions, the Councils values, as well as the i-Tree Eco values.

What did they use/do Positive and constructive language Identification of the levers to use to persuade Financial data from i-Tree Eco Scenarios i.e what the future could be with investment Images Thermal representations using ground based thermal image cameras (what does heat reduction actually look like) Photographic representations of streetscapes with and without trees Practiced once finalised how they would present this to Council, the questions they could expect and the answers prepared

Banyule City Council Tree Facts and what was possible 60,000 street trees Typical street tree is 6m x 4m ($10.22) = annual benefit of $613,000 Optimal street tree 15m x 12m ($36.70) = annual benefit of $2,200, % improvement

Were they successful ? Yes

Step Z - A Strategic Vision “Banyule City Council will sustain a dynamic urban forest that nurtures and enhances the health of its community, economy, environment, and neighbourhood character.”

A message from the Mayor The Urban Forest Strategic Plan is an exciting step for Banyule City Council in its ongoing commitment to manage one of its most important assets - its trees. We place enormous importance on keeping Banyule green and leafy, as does the community who continually inform us how much trees contribute to the beauty and liveability of our City. Aside from their aesthetic value, it's easy to forget what a vital role trees play and how important it is to protect them. Our plan aims to improve stewardship over the trees that provide us with the benefits of shade, clean air and water, carbon storage and habitat for our fauna to mention a few. The development of this plan is a response to the voice of our community and will provide Council the necessary directives to protect and enhance our valuable tree population for generations to come. By nurturing, planting, protecting and planning, our strategy will see more trees take up root across Banyule. It's something we can all work on together to ensure Banyule remains such a prized urban forest.

Building on what was in place Existing policies and planning scheme controls to protect certain elements of Banyule's urban forest. To ensure that Banyule maintains and improves its urban forest, a strategic vision is required to provide the framework from which the existing overlays, policies and planning scheme controls can operate. It will also provide a foundation for Council to prepare an Urban Forest Management Plan and a Street Tree Master Plan to ensure that planning and management today contributes to the longevity and health of Banyule's future urban forest. These documents propose to be forward thinking and span timeframes that mirror the growing life of trees.

Challenges captured Climate change causing increased frequency, variability and severity of drought, storms and heatwaves that will affect tree health and longevity. Conflicts with the implementation of electrical powerlines regulations, underground cabling, gas and stormwater pipes works and regulations. High mortality rate of newly planted trees - currently around 25% i.e. approximately 25% of all trees planted do not survive. Insufficient funding to increase tree planting. Insufficient funding for tree planting to ensure a standard two year maintenance cycle for newly planted trees. Insufficient funding for tree pruning and removal to adequately manage current tree population.

Challenges captured Lack of general understanding within the community of trees and their lifecycles. Lack of a current tree planting plan to address future issues of tree species diversity, site suitability, neighbourhood character, durability, longevity and growth requirements. Population growth, densification and urban consolidation. Streetscape works and upgrades that undervalue tree protection and overvalue replaced materials (e.g. concrete). Vandalism and criminal damage results in the damage and loss of replacement specimens and mature trees through wilful and negligent community behaviour.

Goals Shared key goals- all with measures To increase tree planting and canopy cover on private and public land To increase the environmental benefits of the Urban forest To improve biodiversity health establishment rates for new plantings

Goals Improve community engagement Species selection Maintain and improve the urban character To raise the profile of the Urban Forest

Step Z+ All Goals have measures and all measures have actions In summary the i-Tree Eco analysis resulted in a major shift in Council thinking, investment in the Urban Forest and a plan for implementation

The MoU Between Forest Research and Treeconomics A common commitment to developing and using i-Tree software to : quantify, assess and value the ecosystem services delivered by the urban forest and to collaborate to develop the usefulness and uptake of the software

Overall Objective of Collaboration To deliver the “i-Tree UK” project, which has four main objectives: manage the development strategy for the i-Tree suite of tools in the UK; collate and store data from i-Tree studies undertaken in the UK; gather and share information about the value of UK trees; and, manage the promotion of i-Tree in the UK and help other organisations and individuals to make maximum use of i-Tree study data and reports.

The AA’s role To represent the arboricultural and related sectors in supporting the i-Tree UK project, and work with relevant stakeholders to promote the benefits of using the i-Tree approach, by:

The AA’s role Pulling together a statement of support for the deployment of i- Tree within the UK to be used to influence government thinking at national and local level and policy formulation Communicating and promoting the value of i-Tree to those involved in Arboriculture, related sectors and the wider media; Developing case studies that demonstrate practical benefits of i- Tree studies, drawing from the datasets recorded;

The AA’s role Working with local and national media to promote the objectives and findings of local, regional and national i-Tree projects; Act as strategic project co-ordinator for i-Tree in the UK, providing Project Advisory/Steering Group(s) as necessary for the development of individual tools from the i-Tree suite ;

The AA’s role Ensuring that all promotional materials appropriately and correctly acknowledge the contributions of the relevant Parties; Developing and providing training in how to construct and write effective management plans and associated reports using the data arising from i-Tree, to best enable policy and strategy to be agreed and implemented in relation to the urban forest.

Why be involved? Because i-Tree Eco can provide a vehicle to demonstrate the value of trees in urban settings Because its part of our objective to promote the sustainable management of trees where people live work and play Because it matters