The Environmental Defenders Office welcomes the review of the Tree Protection Act 2005 (ACT) (the TPA).
The TPA is almost 15 years old and given greater existential threats as a result of our changing climate and significant biodiversity loss, it is important to review relevant legislation to ensure it is current, and in this instance, continues to protect trees in the ACT.
EDO’s submission outlines concerns over the Review of the Tree Protection Act 2005 Discussion Paper, which fails to acknowledge the role of trees as significant habitat for threatened species, proposes “tree canopy equivalent” offsets for tree removals, and contains suggestions which may result in weakening of tree protection in the ACT.
