COMPLETED Keeping it Cool - Vegetation and Heat Adaptation Strategy’
We received funding through the Increasing Resilience to Climate Change Grants program in late 2019 to prepare a ‘Keeping it Cool - Vegetation and Heat Adaptation Strategy’. The first stage of this expansive strategy was the QPRC Surfacing Heat Mapping Report.
The report found that urban areas like Queanbeyan, Googong, and Bungendore are significantly hotter than natural areas such as the Tallaganda National Park.
On the mapping day over 90% of the urban landscape in Googong, Queanbeyan and Bungendore was found to be in an urban heat island. These are areas that are over two-degrees warmer than the surrounding natural landscape.
This is partially due to land type usage. Urban areas have a higher concentration of heat storing materials such as bitumen and concrete which are significantly warmer than vegetation like trees or grasses.
During 2021 we developed an Urban Forest/Cooling Strategy for the LGA which takes into consideration the recommendations from the heat mapping report.
Key considerations included:
- Increasing and protecting canopy cover from trees
- Decreasing sun contact with heat storing surfaces (bitumen and concrete)
- Painting areas in lighter, heat reflective colours
- ‘Green roofs’ or roof top garden spaces
- Future-climate ready trees and vegetation, including bushfire mitigation & irrigation of open spaces
- Partnering with the community
Through the increase of lower temperature land uses and an implementation of the above considerations, urban temperatures can be reduced.
Location
Throughout the Local Government area, View Map
-25.274398,133.775136
Throughout the Local Government area ,
Throughout the Local Government area ,
COMPLETED Keeping it Cool - Vegetation and Heat Adaptation Strategy’