Scores of native trees have been planted alongside a bustling neighbourhood road.
The Sunshine Coast Council Parks and Gardens team finished installing 152 trees beside Karawatha Drive at Mountain Creek in early September.
They can be seen between a 2.6km stretch of the drive, between Dixon Road and Golf Links Road.
The council stated earlier this year why street trees were needed.
“Native street trees provide so many benefits: cooling urban areas, improving the look and feel of our neighbourhoods and helping make the Sunshine Coast a healthy and vibrant place to live,” it said.
“Street trees absorb and store carbon, release oxygen, are an essential food source and shelter for native wildlife and play a key role in storm water load reduction.”
The council stated that the Sunshine Coast is one of the greenest local government areas in Queensland, with 57 per cent of land featuring trees.
Its nursery is home to more than 100 different species of plants that were used in planting 2668 street trees last year.
An Adopt-a-Street-Tree Program supports collaboration between local communities and council to take a proactive approach to planting more trees.
Locals can request more trees to be planted in their street and can help care for these trees while they establish. Council assess the area, select a suitable species and plant the tree. Locals can help establish and care for the trees.
Local councillor Christian Dickson was delighted with tree planting.
“You can spend all the money you want on big projects, but I believe this is probably one of the best projects council does,” he said.
“Habitat, shade, better air quality, heat reduction.
“A lot of work involved in this both now and into the next 12 months while the trees establish.”
Planted species include Brachychition acerifolius, Buckinghamia celsissima, Commersonia bartramia, Corymbia intermedia, Cupaniopsis anacardioides, Elaeocarpus obovatus, Eucalyptus tereticornis, Waterhousea floribunda and Xanthostemon chrysanthus.
