Valuing the Living Green using i-Trees, National Tree Standards

Valuing the Living Green - Anthony Kachenko, National Environmental & Technical Policy Manager NGIA

Anthony Kachenko and his team at the Nursery and Garden Industry Australia are working hard developing new initiatives that encourage the promotion of a thriving, sustainable and diverse Australian urban forest which is viewed by Australians as an essential environmental, economic and community asset.

What was presented at the Speciality Trees forum 'The Future of Trees in the Streetscape' was a glimpse of the promotional push at industry level and in particular the tools some under development, some available now to assist local government in placing an economical value on trees planted within their communities. It is hoped and expected that this tree ‘value’ will lead to  increased funding for urban planting infrustructure and healthier, happier communities.

An Australianised version of i-Tree Eco (version 5) is now available and is a significant step forward, assessing trees and linking them to a monetary dollar value based on their contribution to carbon storage, carbon sequestration and air pollution reduction. i-Tree workshops for 2013 are yet to be announced but we suggest you keep an eye out on www.ngia.com.au.

Also relevant to our forum was information on the development of a new set of tree standards, to be endorsed by Standards Australia with an emphasis on suppliers and the attributes required for a specimen grown to best practice. These included above and below the ground attributes, formative pruning, stem taper, crown symmetry, root direction, rootball occupancy and depth. In its early stages of drafting, these standards will replace NATSPEC or in the very least supplement NATSPEC with additional parameters for growers to monitor stock and observational checklists for purchasers.

For related links and to read more on these two initiatives and others under consideration, please see below:

i-TREE Eco International http://www.itreetools.org/eco/international.php
i-TREE Canopy http://www.itreetools.org/canopy/
Key updates on the Australian Standard will be made available via www.yourlevyatwork.com.au blog

Otherwise keep an eye out for further developments at www.ngia.com.au.