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.