Our Story
About Us
TREENET is the national urban tree research and education cluster. Originating from the University of Adelaide’s Waite Arboretum,
TREENET’s head office is based nearby at 334 Glen Osmond Road, Myrtle Bank, South Australia. TREENET operates as an independent, not-for-profit, environmental organisation, funded by voluntary membership subscriptions.
Aims
- TREENET advocates and promotes the values of the urban forest.
- TREENET enhances the body of knowledge that exists about street trees.
- TREENET fosters research and participates in street tree trials & distributes resulting information to those who may find it useful.
- TREENET seeks up-to-date knowledge about skills and practices.
- TREENET facilitates conversations and encourages co-operation and the free exchange of information between individuals and organisations.
- TREENET shares information through our annual Symposium where the live presentations and demonstrations are captured in High Definition videos. Current and past Symposium videos and proceedings on a vast range of topics are easily searched & freely accessible on our TREENET website.
Benefits of TREENET to local government & other tree-managing authorities
By drawing on the TREENET’s resources, tree managing authorities will be able to improve the diversity of their plantings and take advantage of trees proven in the field. The benefits include:
- reduced expenditure on replacing inappropriate trees
- reduced tree maintenance costs
- increased efficiency in street tree management
- improved tree species diversity
- reduced hazard associated with inappropriate species and/or maintenance
- reduced impacts on catchments, and reduced costs associated with catchment pollution
- reduced impacts on infrastructure and utilities; reduced maintenance – pruning, road sweeping, road reconstruction, curb and water table reconstruction, footpath reconstruction
TREENET will provide an efficient and cost-effective way to record data from in-situ testing of new street tree cultivars and introductions, and thus record the performance of different street trees species in different environments.
Benchmarks & Best Practice
TREENET is keen to:
- provide benchmarks for street tree performance as data is accumulated
- assist with the development of training and best-practice procedures based on the data gathered
- promote the reform of street tree assessment and management practices
By supporting TREENET you will be participating in a long-term project designed to collate and distribute information and promote co-operation between organisations and members of the public with the aim of improving the urban forest and reducing its maintenance costs.
