The great green commission

The concept of green infrastructure has been gaining ground in Australia over the past few years, with its recognized benefits including a key role in biodiversity protection through the safeguarding and reestablishment of ecological connectivity, the mitigating of air pollution and the urban heat island effect, the provision of recreational opportunities, the augmentation of active transport networks and the elevation of visual amenity. Some of these include the Perth Biodiversity Project,2 Melbourne's Urban Forest Strategy,3 the Sydney Green Grid,4 Adelaide's Green Infrastructure Guidelines5 and the South East Queensland Regional Plan,6 to name but a few. In terms of jurisdiction, there is frequent overlap and siloing of ideas - for instance, main roads and highways are often managed by state government departments and not the local governments through which they pass. [Extracted from the article]