The tree canopy law reforms were the culmination of a highly successful community campaign led by the Conservation Council of SA and partner organisations Trees for Life, TreeNet, the SA Chapter of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, The Nature Conservation Society of SA, as well as the National Trust of SA and the Environmental Defender’s Office.

The evidence-based campaign saw meticulously researched reports inform stakeholders right across Adelaide.

From community members to MPs, from department staff to the development industry, nobody was left ignorant of the plight of our urban forest nor the need to reform the state’s tree protections.

Hundreds of submissions were made to both the Expert Review Panel’s Implementation Review of the Planning and Design Code as well as to the Environment, Resources & Development Committee’s Urban Forest Enquiry – the latter a bi-partisan committee of our State Parliament.

Industry bodies, such as the Master Builders Association, the Urban Development Institute of Australia and the Property Council of Australia took advantage of these opportunities alongside NGOs and grassroots community organisations to present evidence and to make their views heard.

Unfortunately, for far too long now, we have been allowing the removal of trees that were ostensibly protected by law, whilst failing to value the smaller trees that form the next generation of Adelaide’s canopy.

Much of this tree loss has occurred on private land as blocks have either been subdivided, or people have built their increasingly large homes, leaving less of the block for garden of any kind, let alone for a decent tree.

Adelaide’s early – and ongoing – development pattern has left us with a challenging legacy of very little public open green space by comparison to cities such as Melbourne or Sydney. This sees councils with few options for planting on public land if we are to replace the trees removed from private land. Streets and transport corridors, public parks, commercial sites and reserves have become increasingly important as spaces for trees.

A roundtable organised 12 months ago by the Conservation Council which was attended by development industry peak bodies as well as by greening advocates and the health sector generated a consensus statement, signed off on by all who attended and recognising that:

• Trees and green space are vital assets that contribute to community well-being, amenity, cooling and climate resilience
• There is a need to educate the community on the whole of life costs of living in buildings including health, running costs (eg: power), productivity, social connectedness and adaption to a changing climate

Happily, the government has put significant work into these law reforms and has calculated that only 533 allotments across Adelaide will be impacted, leaving plenty of room for the development industry to play its part cleverly and sensitively to help solve the housing crisis and ensure that every single person who lives in, works in or visits Adelaide will be better off.

Urban forests make sense

The benefits to each one of us of a healthy urban forest are enormous and any disadvantages are significantly outweighed by the presence of trees in our urban landscape.

We all know that they not only remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere but also take up a significant amount of rainfall, taking pressure off aging stormwater infrastructure, and also cool our homes, to which they also add value.

Scientific studies originally carried out in the United States and now replicated around the world prove the positive impacts on both mental and physical health of having canopy close to home.

No matter where the studies occur, they all draw the same conclusion with close to identical figures: with canopy close to home, you’re 30 per cent less likely to develop mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression and 31 per cent less likely to develop health in the poor to fair range.

Interestingly, a recent University of Adelaide study found that our housing circumstances significantly impact how well and how quickly we age.

Trees, of course, also mitigate against the impacts of a changed climate by cooling our streets.

The latter enables active transport such as cycling and walking, thus helping to decarbonise our transport system and further increasing the climate-positive impacts that our trees deliver to us.

The evidence tells us that people spend longer in areas with good tree canopy, whether lingering at a café or spending more time in shops. Whoever thought that trees would contribute so much to the economy?

Law reform to better protect trees goes hand in hand with the need to solve the housing crisis.

This is not a binary choice. Interstate jurisdictions have strong protections to “meet community expectations” yet development is not hindered.

We, too, in Adelaide, can and must have both.

Just as having a roof over your head is a basic right, so is having canopy. A more liveable Adelaide for current and future generations is simply a question of inter-generational equity.

Just like access to housing, access to canopy for everyone is about social justice and equity.

Joanna Wells is former outreach coordinator at the Conservation Council of South Australia