Our urban forest

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Ku-ring-gai's urban forests create a healthy, liveable community. These include our trees, plants, soil and waterways as well as natural and built plant and tree systems. 

What does an Urban Forest do?

  • Reduces urban heat and energy consumption.
  • Reduces air pollution.
  • Increases land and property values.
  • Increases social health and wellbeing.
  • Stores and sequesters carbon emissions
  • Stabilises land and reduces erosion.
  • Reduces stormwater flows and nutrient loads.
  • Increases habitat for wildlife therefore improves biodiversity.

Visit The Liveable Street from Inner West Council for a great video summary of how trees help us on a daily basis. 

Explore Ku-ring-gai's urban forest. Video runs for 9 mins.

How does it help our Net Zero target?

Forests improve air quality and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. If we nurture and grow our forests we can help offset greenhouse gas emissions as well as lower heating and cooling costs and energy consumption in our buildings.

Visit the Net Zero Ku-ring-gai website and discover actions you can take to save the planet and your wallet.

Get started

Urban Forest Strategy

The Ku-ring-gai Urban Forest Strategy will guide how Council manages and enhances its urban forest into the future.

It sets out clear targets and directions on how we can protect our existing tree, vegetation and soil assets and increase our canopy coverage and urban forest extents. The strategy sets ambitious targets for the expansion of a thriving urban forest and will be supported by an urban forest replenishment program and monitoring programs. 

Read the Urban Forest Strategy here.

Which Plant Where program

More greenery in our towns and cities is imperative for healthy minds, healthy bodies and a healthy environment.

A key challenge for greening Australia’s urban environment is to ensure that future plantings are made with trees, shrubs and turf that can tolerate the climate conditions that will occur in the near future.

The Which Plant Where program is a series of five-year research programs that investigates how well current landscaping species will cope under the more extreme climates that Australia’s cities will face and investigate opportunities for new species and varieties for the urban context. Ku-ring-gai Council is proud to be part of the exciting Which Plant Where Living Labs Program at Robert Pymble Park. 

Urban Forest Policy

Council has recently created an Urban Forest Policy(PDF, 657KB) and captured new Urban Forest (Canopy) mapping. This information will be used to create an Urban Forest Monitoring Program and an Urban Forest Strategy to help manage this key resource.

Urban Forest replenishment program

Since the early 2000s, Council has been committed to managing Ku-ring-gai’s urban tree canopy. We have focused on:

  • Maintaining and increasing canopy.
  • Ensuring trees on Council managed land (parks, nature strips, sportsfields, bushland and golf courses) include a range of trees varying in life span, height  and ability to support wildlife habitat.

The NSW Government 5 Million Trees initiative aims to increase canopy cover across Greater Sydney to 40% by 2030. Although Ku-ring-gai has one of the highest canopy cover in the region, with increased pressures from urbanisation and an aging tree canopy, ongoing management and replenishment of our canopy is essential.

Monitoring our forests

How is the tree canopy and urban forest in your suburb?

Read an overview and assessment of Ku-ring-gai's tree canopy, including by suburb. This was created using drone technology and was produced by ArborCarbon.  

Aerial Measurement of Vegetation Cover - 2022 Report(PDF, 4MB)

Aerial Measurement of Vegetation Cover - 2020 Report(PDF, 5MB)

Report tree concerns to Council

Council is responsible for removal, pruning or replacement planting works required on trees located on nature strips or on Council managed land such as parks, sportsfields, bushland and golf courses. Residents can help by reporting concerns to Council.

Trees on Council managed land

Contact Council to report concerns with your street tree. Check the Assessment Guidelines to Prune or Remove Trees on Private Property and Council Managed Land(PDF, 78KB) first to learn about how Council's Arborist manage and maintain trees on Council managed land.

To request inspection of a tree, contact Customer Service on 9424 0000 or email your concerns with photos and your contact phone number to krg@krg.nsw.gov.au. The Inspecting Officer will call you to advise the outcome.