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Benefits of more trees in Canberra

Canberrans benefit from living in the most tree-covered city in Australia, experiencing less stress and sickness and benefiting from reduced household energy costs. Source: The Canberra Times

The city’s status as the bush capital has been confirmed by a study by the Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS Sydney, which found Canberra has the greatest proportion of metropolitan tree coverage, as high as 50% in North Canberra.

Forestry professor Cris Brack of the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the ANU said the high coverage of urban trees throughout the ACT played a beneficial role for households and the community as a whole.

“Positive impacts range from improved health, such as a positive effect on stress levels, sickness rates and recovery from injury, through to a reduction in the cost of heating wind-swept homes in winter and cooling sun-baked homes in summer,” Dr Brack said.

Dr Brack said Canberra’s trees not only helped mitigate the impacts of climate change but reduced the need for air conditioners or heaters, cutting the ACT’s peak electricity usage and contributing about $20 million to the city’s bottom line in the past five years.