fitzsimons-developinga-2021.pdf (13.53 MB)
Developing a Metropolitan-Wide Urban Forest Strategy for a Large, Expanding and Densifying Capital City: Lessons from Melbourne, Australia
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posted on 2021-01-01, 00:00 authored by Martin Hartigan, James FitzsimonsJames Fitzsimons, Maree Grenfell, Toby KentUrban forests provide many ecosystem services, such as reducing heat, improving air quality, treatment of stormwater, carbon sequestration, as well as biodiversity benefits. These benefits have resulted in increasing demand for urban forests and strategies to maintain and enhance this natural infrastructure. In response to a broader resilience strategy for Melbourne, Australia, we outline how a metropolitan-wide urban forest strategy (Living Melbourne) was developed, encompassing multiple jurisdictions and all land tenures. To this end, we mapped tree cover within the Melbourne metropolitan area, modelled potential habitat for some bird species, and investigated the role of tree cover for urban heat island mitigation. We outline the consultation and governance frameworks used to develop the strategy, the vision, goals and actions recommended, including canopy and shrub cover targets for different parts of the metropolitan area. The metropolitan-wide urban forest strategy acts as an overarching framework to guide local government authorities and various stakeholders towards a shared objective of increasing tree cover in Melbourne and we discuss the outcomes and lessons from this approach
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LandVolume
10Issue
8Article number
809Pagination
1 - 23Publisher
MDPI AGLocation
Basel, SwitzerlandPublisher DOI
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2073-445XLanguage
engPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalUsage metrics
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