Residents of Belfast are being asked for their views on a new plan for trees in the city.
The first draft of Belfast City Council ’s Tree Strategy is out for consultation, and the local authority is asking the public to have their say online or by attending a series of consultation workshops across the city. The online consultation can be found here, and will end in April.
The council states: "The strategy has been developed to help manage and improve Belfast’s treescape, with the aim of providing a resilient and diverse urban forest for future generations."
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It adds: "Linking to other strategic aims, including the council’s ambition to plant one million trees before 2035, the strategy aims to link tree planting and management with Belfast’s climate ambitions, as well as the benefits that trees contribute to health and wellbeing.
"Over a six-month period of workshops and consultations, more than 600 responses were received from the public and key stakeholders to support the development of the draft strategy."
The draft strategy highlights 37 "key performance indicators" across three central themes: trees/forest structure, communities, and sustainable management.
Chair of Belfast City Council’s People and Communities Committee Councillor Micky Murray launched the strategy at a tree planting in Barnett Demesne this week. He said: “I’m delighted to launch the consultation on the first draft of Belfast’s Tree Strategy.
"Belfast has such a diverse offering of open spaces right across the city, filled with many different species of tree. The management of our urban forest is something our residents take great interest in and it’s vitally important we make every effort to protect and preserve our tree offering for future generations.
“The Belfast Tree Strategy is an encouraging step in the right direction to provide a structured management process for the maintenance of our tree population in the city. I would encourage everyone to review the draft strategy and engage with our consultation to help shape how we move this strategy forward for the benefit of everyone.”
What are your thoughts on the tree cover for Belfast? Are we doing enough? Let us know in the comments.
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