What you need to know
Find out about all the benefits of the Moonee Valley’s urban forest and Council’s ambition to continue growing it.
Why we need a healthy urban forest
Moonee Valley’s urban forest is made up of all trees, shrubs and underlying plants across the city in public spaces and on private property.
Climate change is causing hotter and more extreme weather conditions, meaning more heatwaves and flood risk. Having a healthy urban forest helps to build our resilience to climate change.
Green areas with trees and shrubs:
- provide essential cooling and shading improving the liveability of our suburbs
- encourage people to walk to their destinations
- create areas for outdoor activities and social connections
- is one of the most effective ways to mitigate urban heat islands and retain moisture in landscapes.
- filter the air we breathe
- support biodiversity and wildlife
The urban heat island effect occurs in cities and built-up areas where there is a lot of concrete, asphalt and reflective surfaces. It can be 10-15 degrees warmer on a street without trees than under the big trees in a shady park.
To combat the urban heat island effect Council is planting more trees - but we all need to work together to plant more.
What is our canopy cover?
In 2009, Moonee Valley’s canopy cover was measured at 13.3 per cent. When measured again in 2018, canopy cover had increased to 16.2 per cent overall.
What is Council doing to increase canopy cover?
In 2023, we are scheduled to plant 2,500 canopy trees in streets, roads and some open spaces. For conservation purposes, we typically plant a mixture of 5,000 shorter trees and shrubs alongside 15,000 grasses, groundcover and wildflowers annually in parks and reserves.
Canopy cover refers to the extent of a tree’s leaves and branches as seen from a birds-eye view.
Council cannot achieve our goal to increase canopy cover alone. While we are planting trees in our streets, parks and reserves, we need the help of private landowners. We need to be planting and retaining trees on both public and private land.
Trees can take up to 20 years to mature and reach their full shade potential. This is why it's so important to retain existing shade trees in the landscape as well as plan (and plant) now for a greener, cooler future.
Council is a member of Greening the West –an alliance of councils, water authorities, research institutions and affiliated State Government agencies in Melbourne’s west, actively planting more trees and investing in urban greening.
What can you do?
To increase the resilience of Moonee Valley to extreme heat and the impacts of climate change, we need everyone’s help. Here are some examples of how you can get involved:
- Have a look at planting or adopting Trees and Nature Strips
- Come to one of our community tree planting events that are held throughout the year.
- Plant a tree on your property using our Wildlife Gardening Guide below.
- Attend an event My Smart Garden workshop and learn about sustainable gardening
- Plant a tree on your nature strip. Get more information
- Think twice and get professional advice about removing trees from your property.
- Find out more protecting our significant trees.
- Check our community group directory to join a local organisation that is committed to conservation, open spaces and the natural environment in Moonee Valley.
