Greening the West

2 years ago I joined Minister Lily D'Ambrosio and Sarah Connolly MP at Cambridge reserve to help planting trees as a part of our Government's More Trees for a Cooler, Greener West initiative. This week I decided to visit the trees we planted to see how they're growing and developing.

2 years may not sound like a long time, but in that time this space has gone from having a few tiny saplings to being filled with plants taller than me.

Recently Victoria University hosted their annual Tree Planting Day which was a huge success. I was once again lucky enough to join the local community in planting trees to help reach our goal. It was a great show of the community spirit that runs strong in Tarneit and I look forward to the next community tree planting event.

The More Trees for a Cooler, Greener West program aims to plant 500,000 across Melbourne's West to help make our air cleaner, and our public spaces greener. With 375,000 trees in the ground, we're well on the way to achieving this goal.

Planting trees provides many benefits including:

• increasing the urban forest and canopy cover for increased shading and cooling
• increasing biodiversity by planting a variety of tree sizes and species and contributing to wildlife corridors
• reducing urban temperatures, which will help reduce heat-related illness and death. Canopy trees not only cool the surrounding air, but can reduce the temperature of surfaces they shade (e.g. buildings and roads) by 10-25°C
• helping clean the air by filtering pollutants and providing oxygen, as well as helping meet Victoria’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2045
• providing more accessible green spaces for urban residents for recreation and amenity to increase connections with nature and improve mental and physical health
• improving stormwater management through increased filtering and reduced runoff.

It has been fantastic to see more trees being put in the ground and I look forward to watching them grow.

Learn more and get involved: More trees for a cooler greener west (environment.vic.gov.au)