Growing our Urban Forest

The Urban Greening Strategy aims to deliver a strategic greening approach that includes trees, shrubs, grasslands, structures (such as green roofs, walls, arbours) and other vegetation on public and private lands.

While Launceston is known for its leafy parks and significant trees, the urban forest that people enjoy today only covers around 19% of the urban area and lacks species diversity. Our Urban Greening Strategy sets out a bold target aimed at more than doubling the canopy cover to 40% across our municipality by 2040.

What is next?

An Urban Greening Implementation Plan has been developed and sets out how Council plans to meet the vision of the Urban Greening Strategy and guides the management and resource allocation over the next 17 years to align with timings of the City’s existing plans and strategies.

Considering the key challenges, opportunities, business and community feedback, this implementation plan sets out a priority list of short-, medium- and long-term actions to achieve the urban greening vision.

We are currently undertaking planning to turn this vision into a realisation, with the first areas to be targeted being those with lowest canopy coverage and higher vulnerability in populations. We are looking at ways we can introduce greening into the city on a variety of levels, including nature based solutions for high density areas such as green roofs, vertical gardens, arbours and structures.

We are reviewing policies and guidelines to encourage more green in our city, and working through existing policies to ensure our existing trees are protected. 

 

We can't do this alone...

The Urban Greening Strategy, vision and targets cannot be delivered by Council alone on public lands. Implementation of actions to green our city will require a community-wide approach, with participation from organisations, businesses, and individuals, and will encourage the greening of private land.

View our Urban Greening Strategy(PDF, 8MB)