Australian National Arboretum
More than 1000 trees at the National Arboretum are dead and another 1800 are in poor condition and need attention, a major review of the popular tourist attraction has revealed. Source: The Canberra Times
The ACT government has agreed to remove all dead and poor trees following a review of planning and management of the Arboretum’s forests and land, released on Thursday.
“What is vital to the good management is not the precise number of trees, but rather that we regularly audit the actual forest condition trees, but rather that we regularly audit the actual forest condition and know what changes are occurring and why so that appropriate actions are taken in the maintenance of the arboretum’s forests,” the review said.
The government has agreed or agreed-in-principle to all of the review’s 72 recommendations.
The wide-ranging recommendations range from including research in the arboretum’s mission statement, preparing a conservation plan to a thorough analysis of its forests and how those that aren’t doing well could be better managed.
The government has also agreed to ensure appropriate spacing between future plantings to prevent trees being overgrown by others.
Cultural Canberra direction Adam Stankevicius said the review was important to manage the future of the arboretum’s forests.
“I think the take home message from the review is the arboretum is doing what we expect, which is growing a significant range of forests according to the design that was put in place,” he said.
“There would always be, given the experimental nature, some successes and some that didn’t do so well. That’s to be expected and this is giving us a plan in which we can actually address those ones that aren’t doing as well going forward.”
Results of a recent survey of 2600 people, reveal more than 90% of arboretum visitors rated their visit as excellent or good. The survey was done as part of the government’s review of the strategic direction of the arboretum.
“The overwhelmingly positive findings provide great insight for the future of the site, which was described as a ‘beautiful, natural place to visit,” Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.
The views, Pod Playground, National Bonsai and Penjing Collection, the trees and walks were favourites among visitors.
National Arboretum executive manager Stephen Alegria said there was also some “constructive” ideas about what people wanted at the arboretum, such as more trails or picnic areas.
Mr Barr said although the establishment of the arboretum’s forests began only eight years ago, the majority of trees were performing well, with many exceeding expectations.
Ninety-four forests have been planted at the arboretum.
The review found that of the planted forests, three needed to be considered for replanting with a new species in the “very near future” and one may need replacement soon.
Several Cypress forests have also been declared vulnerable to disease and are in need of special treatment and monitoring.
“We always expected that there would be some trees that wouldn’t do as well in the Canberra climate and that’s part of the experimental nature of an arboretum, that we needed to trial [trees] to see whether they would work here,” Mr Stankevicius said.
Mr Stankevicius said the report provided guidance as to how the forests that weren’t doing as well could be remediated and growing conditions improved.
“There are some that just really aren’t suited to this climate and they’re the ones we’ll need to make some decisions on,” he said.
He said community consultation, the survey and the review would help drive a 10-year plan for the government to consider.
“This place will evolve so whether we’ll have more events here, more Voices in the Forest, whether we will have more opportunities for picnicking and a whole range of other things that might be on the site in the next 10-20 years will be part of that strategic direction process… but we need to do that methodically and make sure we maintain what it is people see as important to the arboretum,” he said.
