Why is Geelongs urban forest important?

A healthy urban forest is critical for any city that prioritises its environmental and social outcomes. Geelong’s urban forest is a valuable community asset that crosses public and private boundaries enhancing the local environment and providing a green network of spaces for the community to utilise. Geelong’s urban forest is important as it provides the following benefits:

Did you know...

• Geelong’s public urban trees are worth over $370 million.
• Geelong has 75 268 street trees and over 45 000 urban park trees.
• Geelong’s street trees store 19 000 tonnes of carbon and sequester over 1 300 tonnes per year.
• Stormwater run-off is 62% higher from asphalt than from turf or tree pits.
• The public urban forest alone absorbs around four Olympic sized swimming pools of stormwater each year preventing run-off into the bay.
• The presence of street trees can improve residential property values by up to 30%.
• Large healthy trees can remove between 60 and 70 times more air pollution than smaller trees.
• Temperatures can be between 5o Celsius and 20o Celsius cooler underneath tree canopies.
• Up to 80% of the cooling effect of trees is directly from shading.

Surface Temperature Reduction Examples

Example 1: Orbit Drive Whittington

Unshaded roadway is 15 degrees Celsius hotter than asphalt shaded by a tree.

Example 2: Myers Street Haymarket Carpark

Asphalt shaded by trees is 19 degrees Celsius cooler than unshaded asphalt.