Adelaide is losing unprecedented amounts of canopy cover, more per annum than any other Australian capital.  Our streets are becoming hotter and our suburbs more and more unlivable because we are tearing out the big old trees that best capture the carbon dioxide that our cars emit. We have a duty of care to future generations to leave them with an environment that they can comfortably live in, like the one that many of us were fortunate enough to grow up in. 

There is no such thing as like for like with tree "replacement" programmes.  Old trees grow faster, capture and store far more carbon, provide greater canopy and provide much needed wildlife habitat.  To take these out in order to widen roads is inexcusable.  Fewer mature trees and more cars on the road is actually the last thing we need and want!  Additionally, in terms of cleaning the air alone, we need literally thousands of metre high saplings to replace one 90 year old healthy gum. (This is based on foliage cover, as it's the leaves that take in the CO2 and release the O2, and does not take in to account that we don't get any canopy until decades down the track!)

Furthermore, since December 2017 DIT (DPTI) no longer requires permission from anybody to remove significant or regulated trees for road widening projects. This means that essentially they have no protection and their removal does not have to appear in the detail of DIT's (DPTI's) plans.  Consequently, it has become very hard to get information from DIT (DPTI) about how many trees are slated for removal in their various projects.  Several recent road expansion projects have seen trees removed seemingly for construction convenience.

Please add your voice to ours and tell DIT (DPTI) that we believe they are smarter than this.  Good transport infrastructure does not simply mean bigger roads.  It includes excellent public transport services, great bike ways and bike lanes and smarter use of existing roads and intersections.

Will you speak for the trees? 

If you are prepared to speak for the trees, please consider adding a comment to say why you are doing so and copy and paste your comment into an email to your local MP. This will carry more weight and should encourage our MPs to look at strengthening the state's tree laws.  You can access a list South Australian MPs and their contact details here.