The City of Perth will be planting another 85,000 trees in rural Western Australia in the next phase of its carbon offset program. The program is aimed at offsetting some of the greenhouse gases that are generated by vehicles being driven to and from the city.
The City has engaged private company Carbon Conscious to plant and maintain the trees at Koorda, 300 kilometres from Perth in the State’s Wheatbelt region. When the trees reach maturity, it is calculated that they will entrap 15,600 tonnes of carbon dioxide gases each year.
In stage one of the four stage program, the City planted 85,000 trees at Kojonup in the Great Southern in 2009.
Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi said the City had an important role to play in trying to mitigate the effects of climate change.
“While actively encouraging the use of more sustainable forms of transport, we recognise that cars will be the preferred conveyance for some time to come,” she said. “As well as offsetting carbon, this program has another environmental benefit because plantings will be on marginal agricultural land and will help combat soil erosion.”
“The trees will also provide windbreaks and provide native animal habitat. Planting of the trees also recognises the important relationship between cities and rural areas and their interdependencies.
“City of Perth parking stations are themselves being more sustainably designed, with the new Elder Street Car Park having solar panels on the roof to supply energy to electric vehicle recharge points, natural ventilation and sensor controlled lighting.”
Funding for the tree planting program will come from income generated by City of Perth parking operations.
