What is TREENET?

About TREENET

TREENET is an independent not-for-profit organisation funded by grants and voluntary contributions from participating councils, nurseries and other groups.

The organisation is based at The University of Adelaide’s Waite Arboretum at Urrbrae, South Australia.

About TREENET - Aims

To enhance the body of knowledge that exists about street trees.
To foster research in the area.
To distribute resulting information to all those who may find it useful – local government, government departments, nursery industry, schools, universities, utilities companies, anyone.
To facilitate co-operation and the free exchange of information between individuals and organisations.
To these ends, the major activity of TREENET is the sharing of information through our annual symposium, newsletters and through the use of an interactive Internet web application.

About TREENET - Symposium

On the first Thursday and Friday in September every year, the National Street Tree Symposium is held in Adelaide.

The programme is planned to cater for the diverse interests of those attending and to encourage interaction with the presenters, and networking with colleagues. Thursday at the National Wine Centre is for formal presentation of papers and Friday has a series of practical workshops which are presented at the Waite Arboretum . All the papers presented since our Inaugural Symposium in 2000 can be accessed by clicking here.

About TREENET - Fostering and Disseminating Street Tree Research

TREENET fosters street-tree related research projects and showcases that research at the annual symposium, in the TREENET newsletter and on the Internet.

TREENET allows anyone with useful information or ideas to share that knowledge with the wider street-tree community in the form of articles, databases, research papers, anecdotal evidence or casual observations as well as creating new networking opportunities for those involved with street trees.

About TREENET - Street Tree Trials and Research

If we measure tree performance and correlate it to site conditions we can start to see which tree species work where and why, and conversely, which trees fail and why.

Of course, there are many factors impacting on the health and utility of any given street trees: species, watering, maintenance procedures, root stock, soil PH, infrastructure and so on. A given tree's performance can also be measured in a number of different ways - amenity, shade, impact on foot paths, overhead wires, and so on.

We collect basic data of this kind about sets of trees which we call street tree trials, or 'trials' for short.

We ask participants to start trials of this kind and then periodically collect data about them, submitting that data to our online database. What data they collect and how often they do it is up to them. Each participant in TREENET decides his/her own level of participation and how they can help. Other participants don't actually start trials, but help collect data from them. They co-operate with organisations running trials and this co-operation is co-ordinated via the TREENET web application.

Others help in-kind; nurseries provide tree stock, businesses provide equipment or materials, councils provide labour, educational institutions provide know-how, schools provide students to help collect data and so on. It is a truly co-operative effort.

The data we collect is made freely available via this web site and through assorted publications. By increasing available information about street trees a longer-lived, healthier and safer urban forest can be achieved.

For more information on how to start a trial, please contact David Lawry

About TREENET Web Application and Web Site

TREENET is developing a multi-faceted internet-based application that manages trial site data, discussion forums, question and answers, contact lists, and information sharing between users – academic papers, articles, anecdotal evidence. All this data is searchable, customisable and interactive.

Anyone with a relatively recent Internet browser will be able to use it – from an office, from a library, from a University, from a Cafe, from home, whatever the case may be.

How to join, register or become a member of TREENET

We welcome all people interested in street trees. Registration is free.
Click here to register.

Benefits of TREENET to local government, councils

By drawing on the TREENET’s resources, local government 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

In time, TREENET will also:
• 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.