Field Trip Program

Field Trip #1 – Honouring, Maintaining and Extending Canberra’s Urban Forest

This field trip provides a snapshot of how the urban forest is planned, established, managed and challenged across Canberra—from established inner areas to emerging greenfield developments.

• Rex to Mt Ainslie Lookout – Urban Forest Overview
  Beginning at Rex and travelling to the Mt Ainslie lookout, the trip opens with a broad landscape-scale view of Canberra’s urban forest. This vantage point highlights canopy cover patterns, the relationship between topography and vegetation, and the role of trees in shaping the city’s character, microclimate and biodiversity.
• Inner South – Mature Tree Case Studies
  In the Inner South, three mature-tree subject sites illustrate the long-term value and management considerations of established urban trees:
  
  • Pin Oaks (Braddon/Kingston) demonstrate historic planting palettes and the challenges of renewal of aging trees in constrained urban settings.
  • Plane Trees (Manuka) showcase iconic avenue plantings and their role in streetscape identity and shade provision.
  • American Elms (Grant Crescent, Griffith) provide an example of legacy trees contributing to amenity, heritage values and urban cooling.
• Denman Prospect / Whitlam – Innovation in New Developments
  These newer suburbs highlight contemporary approaches to urban forest delivery, including innovative planting and public-realm design. The visit also reflects on where some approaches have been less successful, offering learning opportunities around tree establishment, species choice and integration with built form.
• Ginninderry – Retention of Remnant Vegetation
  Ginninderry demonstrates how remnant vegetation and existing landscape features can be retained and integrated within large-scale new developments, supporting biodiversity outcomes while maintaining a sense of place and connection to the pre-development landscape.
• Jamison – WSUD Carpark
  The Jamison carpark showcases Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) in practice, illustrating how trees, stormwater management and hard infrastructure can work together to improve water quality, support tree health and enhance urban amenity.
• Return to Rex
  The trip concludes back at Rex, providing an opportunity to reflect on the diversity of urban forest outcomes observed and the lessons that can inform future planning, design and management across the city.

Meeting time: 8:45am, for a 9:00am departure
Return time: 3:00pm
PPE required: Comfortable shoes, and dressed for weather forecast!

Field Trip #2 – Research and Legacy (ANU)

This Field Trip will offer opportunities to reflect on the role of research, innovation, and long-term knowledge in shaping Australia’s forest and environmental sectors, with crucial focus on the legacy of important institutions like ANU. Further details will be shared closer to the date as the program continues to take shape. A more detailed itinerary will be available closer to the event.

Meeting time: 8:15am, for an 8:30am departure
Return time: 1:00pm
PPE required: Closed shoes suitable for walking tracks, sun protection

Field Trip #3 – Balancing Community Access and Plantation Forestry | Parks and Conservation Service

This full-day field trip provides participants with an on-ground exploration of how plantation forests in the ACT are managed to balance timber production with diverse community, recreation and conservation values. Led by staff from Parks and Conservation Service, the tour highlights practical examples of shared land use, visitor safety, and environmental stewardship within a highly visited forest estate.

The morning program focuses on intensive recreation settings within pine forests, beginning with a guided visit to an operational paintball site, where participants will discuss site safety, environmental considerations and public access in a commercial recreation context. This is followed by morning tea at Majura Pines along with a guided forest walk examining plantation management, recreation pressures and shared-use solutions for mountain bike, equestrian and high-ropes uses.

Following picnic lunch and informal networking at Cotter Avenue, the afternoon shifts to mountain bike recreation at Cotter Pines. A guided walk at the Hyles MTB area will showcase contemporary trail design, volunteer partnerships, and the integration of recreation infrastructure within active plantation forests. The trip concludes with a return to Canberra, providing participants with a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved in balancing community access with plantation forestry objectives.

A more detailed itinerary will be available closer to the event.

Meeting time: 8:15am, for an 8:30am departure
Return time: 4:00pm
PPE required: Enclosed shoes, such as boots or walking shoes, high-vis vests

Field Trip #4: Native and Plantation Forestry at Tallaganda State Forest

Proudly sponsored by:

Hosted by Forestry Corporation of NSW, travel to Tallaganda State Forest for an engaging field trip exploring native and plantation forestry in a practical forest setting. This visit will consider key themes including native forest silviculture, pine plantation management and thinning, and fire management. Participants will have the opportunity to observe local forest operations and management considerations. A more detailed itinerary will be available closer to the event.

Meeting time: 7:45am, for an 8:00am departure
Return time: 3:30pm
PPE required: Closed shoes, high visibility vest and a hard hat

Field Trip #5 – The Future of Forests Under our New Climate | Alpine Ash and Snow Gums

Explore current and emerging challenges facing high-country forest ecosystems, with a focus on Alpine Ash and Snow Gums. This full-day field trip will consider the impacts of climate change, pest pressure, fire regimes, dieback and forest resilience, highlighting why protection alone may not be enough to secure the future of these landscapes. Participants will gain insight into the ecological changes already being observed, and the broader questions these raise for forest science, management and policy. A more detailed itinerary will be available closer to the event.

Meeting time: 7:45am, for an 8:00am departure
Return time: 5:00pm
PPE required: Closed shoes, suitable for walking