Greater protection for Cork City's trees 

City councillors have now called for the immediate introduction of more tree protection orders, especially for trees in designated landscape preservation zones (LPZ) by reason of their tree canopy, as one of the first steps in the implementation of the new strategy.

Green Party councillor Oliver Moran made the call as city councillors adopted the strategy, which was the subject of public consultation earlier this year.

His party colleague, Dan Boyle, chair of the council’s environment strategic policy committee, praised the level of public engagement during the drafting of the plan, which led to 50 submissions, most from the public and eight from local organisations, including the University College Cork (UCC) Arboretum research group.

The UCC campus comprises an internationally accredited arboretum hosting around 120 tree species, including a pair of 150-year-old giant redwoods, a strawberry (arbutus) tree, and a “champion” wing nut.

Mr Moran said the strategy had been enriched by the public engagement, but action is needed now.

“This is a grounded strategy focused on the right tree, in the right place, at the right time,” he said.

“The city council is planting around 4,000 trees annually, and that is an incredibly positive situation, but action is the next thing.

“Applying tree protection orders to trees in LPZs should be the first step, and it could be done at no cost.”

He and Fianna Fáil councillor John Sheehan said a landslide earlier this month in the Blackpool area, beneath a ridge from where trees were removed just two years ago, highlighted the importance of trees.

Mr Sheehan also called for a specific focus on tree planting in the city’s Rapid, or disadvantaged areas, which have lower tree canopy cover than other areas.

Cork City has a tree canopy cover of 13%, just above the nationwide average of 12%.

However, it is on the lower end of tree canopy cover when compared to other other EU mission cities, which have been selected to become climate neutral by 2030, with Tampere in Finland at 60% and Ljubljana in Slovenia at 50%.