Residents 3000 CBD News Article – May 2017

Trees are an important part of the ecosystem. Whether that’s in a jungle, bush, gardens and parks or in the city streets. Their leafy crowns provide shade from the beating summer sun, they offer shelter, protections and food for various birds and other small animals. And they convert carbon dioxide (CO₂), which comes from burning fossil fuels, into oxygen. Yes – carbon dioxide is the gas generally attributed to the global warming and trees help to reduce its concentration in the atmosphere. And yes – oxygen is the gas necessary for all animals and humans to sustain life. It takes 7 to 8 mature trees to produce enough oxygen for one person. Think about it!

The City of Melbourne (CoM) cares about our trees. They have a website that shows a grand plan for the development of our urban forest. To find out more visit the Urban Forest Visual – planting map for Melbourne CBD.

However, the most amazing thing is that every tree has been identified, categorized by type and its lifespan noted. Every tree in Melbourne CBD has an email address. What does this mean?

As a resident of the city, when you walk around and see a tree in trouble, you can find that particular tree on the CoM’s website and send it an email. Of course, the email goes to the carers of the Urban Forest and they can take the necessary action. Here is the map with tree IDs.

Take my own story. The summer before last, I was walking my dog down Collins Street. It was really hot and we had not had rain for weeks. A poor young plane tree was showing stress. It obviously needed water desperately. What could I do? Well, I went into the nearest coffee shop and asked for some water. The owner said, that each night, instead of throwing their customer drinking water down the drain they would give it to the tree. The tree survived and is now much stronger. If I had known about the CoM’s website, I could have emailed the tree asking for it to be watered!

There is real evidence that people love our trees. The trees have been given attractive, warm coats for winter. These lucky trees have been visited by Melbourne’s famous Yarn Corner craft group whose motto is “Covering the Town in Yarn”. See their website here.

Become a Citizen Urban Forester.

The City of Melbourne is seeking volunteers to help create resilient, healthy and diverse urban landscapes for the future. Citizen Foresters are trained and empowered to grow the urban forest and improve urban ecology by carrying out essential advocacy, monitoring and research tasks. More information is available from this link.

Trees come and go ….

It is with great sadness that we see all the trees in the City Square taken out to allow for the construction of the City South metro tunnel station. In addition, the beautiful trees on Little Collins Street between Exhibition and Russell shown in the adjacent photo are to be removed for a construction project. Why the gantries cannot be modified to go around the trees is a puzzle. This has successfully been accomplished for the same construction site around the corner in Collins Street.

Welcome Newbies on the Block ….

As you walk around the city you will see quite a large number of beautiful new trees recently planted.  An example is shown in the photo. A brand-new plane tree in Collins Street. Some of these newbies have a difficult time getting established. This is where residents can play a role. If you see a tree struggling or having branches damaged, send the tree an email! A caring CoM forester will attend to the problem. If you do not help, the CoM foresters who care for 70,000 trees may not know and the tree may die.

Come on Residents of postcode 3000, you have an important role to play loving and caring for our precious trees. Be proactive and communicate with the trees.

Trees make our Melbourne CBD a beautiful place to live. Show your love!