A greener space, is a better place!

In 2019 'Greener Spaces Better Places' program was introduced to run with the momentum gained by a predecessor program called 202020 Vision. Its aim is to achieve a minimum of 30% canopy tree cover by 2030 through the creation of programs that encentivise and encourage councils and private land owners to up their 'green game' - for the future health of everyone! Those advocates for #moretreeesplease and the 202020 Vision, like Speciality Trees, have signed on to this new national program as a partner. 

As the name suggests, Greener Spaces Better Places advocates the planting of all kinds of green material, our green infrastructure if you like, to create a more liveable future. From their website: 

Plants create places that are more appealing to work, play and relax in, and help us feel a sense of place and community within our busy lives.  They’re good for our health and wellbeing, cool our cities, reduce air pollutants, regulate water flow, lower carbon emissions, and even increase property value.

Yet green space is often ignored when plans are drawn, and concrete poured. Greener Spaces Better Places is a movement that brings together community, growers, government, business, and everyday people just like you to make our homes, streets, and suburbs the greenest in the world.

Greener spaces are better places, so let’s get greening and create greener, better homes, streets, suburbs, and places for all.

After all, every green space counts towards a greener Australia. And when everyone gets involved, together we can bring the power of plants into every life.

"The 202020 Vision is one big collaboration to make our urban areas 20% greener by 2020".

Trees and plants are good for our health and productivity, keep cities cool and reduce pollution. People even heal faster when they’re around them. Yet, so often, plants and trees are overlooked when plans are drawn and concrete poured.

Seven great reasons why we should plant more trees

1. Based on the CBD LGA areas, our Capital Cities’ urban tree canopy is ranked as follows: Hobart (59%), Brisbane (49%), Darwin (28%), Perth (26%), Adelaide (20%), Sydney (15%) and Melbourne (13%).
2. The annual mean air temperature of a city with 1 million people or more can be 1–3°C warmer than its surrounding areas. In the evening, the difference can be as high as 12°C.
3. Victorian research into urban forestry has found that large, healthy trees remove approximately 70 times more air pollution than small healthy trees.
4. A single 30m tall mature tree can absorb as much as 22.7 kilograms of carbon dioxide in a year, which over its lifetime is approximately the same amount as would be produced by an average car being driven 41,500 kilometres.
5. The same 30m tree could also produce 2,721 kilograms of oxygen in a year, which is enough to support at least two people.
6. Thermal mapping in Melbourne shows that, on average, a 10% increase in urban green cover could reduce the daytime surface temperature in cities during heat waves by around 1°C.
7. Most crime occurs in suburbs with lowest tree cover.

Speciality Trees is a proud partner in the 202020 Vision.

For more information on the 202020 Vision initiative, please click here.

1. Jacobs, B., Mikhailovich, N., and Moy, C. (2014) Benchmarking Australia’s Urban Tree Canopy: An i-Tree Assessment, prepared for Horticulture Australia Limited by the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney.
2. (United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) (2012). Heat island effect. Viewed 6 June 2014 )
3. (Nowak, USDA Forest Service, 2002, nrs.fs.fed.us/units/urban/local-resources/downloads/Tree_Air_Qual.pdf)
4. (http://landarchs.com/8-amazing-facts-trees-didnt-know/)
5. (http://landarchs.com/8-amazing-facts-trees-didnt-know/)
6. (Williams, N., Coutts, A. & Livesley, S. (2014). Our cities need more trees and water, not less, to stay liveable. Viewed 6 June 2014.)
7. (iTree results and SA gov Crime Mapper)