Arafura Tree Services & Consulting

Schools, universities, hospitals, government departments, mining companies, body corporates, builders, parks and botanical gardens all come to Arafura Tree Services & Consulting for much the same thing: they hold more trees than anyone can keep in their head, and somebody has to be able to say which of them is a problem. Real estate and insurance companies are on that list too, and so are households with one tree they are worried about. Locally owned and operated, we have been doing this in the Territory for more than 15 years.

Our base is at Pinelands and the work takes us to all parts of the Northern Territory. Darwin, Palmerston and the rural area are the day to day of it, and beyond that are plenty of sites not just off the beaten track but completely offshore. Getting people and equipment to those involves time, planning and expense, so we carry that part: the crew and the gear come to you, whether the job is planting, pruning, removal, stump grinding, cable bracing, transplanting or storm damage.

What we find does not stop at a report on a shelf. We built our own data management system using ArcGIS and run it as Arafura Online, so our consulting arborists collect and share data daily and the collection forms can be adapted to suit a particular client or situation. The consultants hold Diplomas of Arboriculture and are certified in QTRA, Quantified Tree Risk Assessment, which is what turns an opinion about a tree into a number you can act on and defend to somebody else. On a portfolio of a few hundred trees, that is the difference between a filing cabinet and a maintenance program.

A Preliminary Arboricultural Assessment is usually where construction and redevelopment work starts with us, so the condition and safety of the trees are settled before the machinery arrives. From there it runs through initial impact and risk assessments, tree protection plans, on site advice and monitoring while the project is under way, and recommendations once it is finished. We also carry out school hazard assessments and put submissions together for communities and councils. Everything is written so the trees are maintained in accordance with Australian Standards and comply with Territory Government and community safety standards.

On the tools, our tree pruning covers crown reductions, dead wooding and formative and corrective work, all of it in accordance with Australian Standard 4373. Tree removal follows strict protocols and safety regulations, and stump removal can be grinding, poisoning or taking the stump out altogether, with the grinding done so there is minimum interference to the rest of your property. Past the trees themselves we take on revegetation and tree planting, chemical treatment and weed spraying, and landscaping to get the whole site healthy. We hold ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001 certification, accreditation with Northern Territory Contractors Accreditation Limited and membership of the Tree Contractors Association, and we are externally audited every year.

Office hours are Monday to Friday, 7am to 5pm, and 24 hour emergency cover runs for storm damage and for trees that have turned hazardous. Ring the office or send the site details through, and we will have a consultant out to look at the tree with the report to follow.