Trees in our urban landscape help keep neighbourhoods and homes cool, while enhancing liveability.

The benefits of passive cooling on managing urban heat are increasingly important as the climate changes and the density of urban development increases.

Urban densification has necessarily reduced tree cover.

Trees increase liveability by providing cooling shade, wildlife habitat, storing carbon emissions and purifying the air.

Shade reduces the ambient temperature by 50 Celsius.

In the Wangaratta climate we need to both heat and cool our living spaces.

Trees provide passive shade for cooling and reduce summer energy bills.

Outdoor spaces nearby can be a source of unwanted heat for your home.

Trees and green plants in the garden, rather than hard surfaces, help to reduce the temperature of air moving over the surfaces in and around your home.

Trees provide a cooling effect through evapotranspiration, shading, and funnel cooling breezes.

Benefits of trees in sustainable landscaping and garden design include:

· Increased biodiversity – native and indigenous vegetation can support and increase local biodiversity by providing habitat for birds, insects, and lizards.

· Improved air quality – vegetation can remove pollutants from the air and create filters for wind and dust control.

· Reduced energy use – as an integral part of passive design strategies, vegetation can provide cooling through shading and evapotranspiration. Shading to the north of a home with deciduous plants protects from the summer sun and allows entry for the winter sun.

· Water management – good landscaping can reduce the impact of stormwater onsite and reduce the need for watering plants.

· Psychological wellbeing – a new science of ‘biophilia’ (love of nature) is developing from the recognition that vegetation and natural environments have a measurable impact on our psychological health.

· Enhancing climate change mitigation by using the nature-based carbon sinks of trees.

· Temperature regulation through evapotranspiration where trees release water vapour into the air, cooling the‌ environment. (Source: Yourhome)

Wangaratta Landcare & Sustainability Inc is celebrating 40 years of Landcare with an exhibition at the Baines Gallery at Wangaratta Library throughout August with a presentation by Dr Greg Moore from Melbourne University on Saving Mature Trees on 26 August from 5pm to 7pm.

Bookings are essential via https://events.humanitix.com/saving-mature-trees.