🌿 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 🌿 New research just published shows that for every $1 invested into planting and maintaining trees in cities they return up to $1.50 in back in economic, societal, climate mitigation and human health returns.   Environment Institute researchers, Dr John Kandulu, Professor Veronica Soebarto, Associate Professor Carmel Williams, Dr Yonatal Tefera, Dr Stefan Caddy-Retalic and Institute Director Professor Andy Lowe alongside international collaborator Professor Prashant Kumar, used a context-sensitive cost-benefit analysis (CBA) framework to quantify the value of street trees across different socioeconomic areas. “This study shows that street trees are a genuine ‘no regrets’ investment. When treated as long-term infrastructure, they deliver reliable economic and health returns.  As cities like Adelaide face hotter conditions, the cost of losing mature canopy only grows,” says Dr Caddy-Retalic. The study comes amid growing controversy surrounding the South Australian government’s proposed $45 million redevelopment of the North Adelaide Golf Course, in preparation for hosting the Australian Open and LIV Golf tournaments. Almost 600 mature trees have been removed from Possum Park in the Adelaide parklands as part of the project, a decision which has received significant community backlash. A further 45 trees are also expected to be removed during the MotoGP street circuit redevelopment in the eastern parklands, with the government committing to planting new trees to replace those felled during the changes. “The evidence does not support treating tree removal and replanting as equivalent outcomes. The value of urban trees is delivered by mature tree canopy which takes decades top develop, not instantly replaced by saplings,” says Dr Kandulu. “Street trees function as a high-yield public infrastructure, returning up to $1.50 for every dollar invested. When mature canopy is removed without valuing foregone benefits, public wealth is eroded.” Alongside human involvement, rapid population growth, urban densification and climate change continue to place urban environments under significant stress. Urban greening and the presence of mature trees are a nature-based strategy that creates sustainable, climate-resilient cities for future generations to enjoy. “This work is now being translated into an online-decision-support tool that allows councils to test greening and redevelopment scenarios using local data, making the costs, benefits, trade-offs and timing of tree loss and replacement transparent for real-world planning decisions,” says Prof Soebarto. Read the full article at this link: https://lnkd.in/gKJmuJRe Keep up-to-date on EI research with our newsletter: https://lnkd.in/ggye3_wp Learn more about the Environment Institute on our website: https://lnkd.in/gYE7WNEe #StreetTrees #Biodiversity