North Sydney Urban Forest Strategy
Urban Forest Strategy (1.72MB)
The Urban Forest Strategy is the culmination of several years of research and mapping of North Sydney's urban forest; the Strategy provides an in-depth look at how our 'green infrastructure' is performing now and considers how we can maximise its performance in the future.
Urban forest is defined as the totality of trees and shrubs on all public and private land in and around urban areas and is measured as a canopy cover percentage of the total area. Urban Forest is internationally recognised as a primary component of the urban ecosystem and an essential part of a "liveable" and economically sound community.
As the arboriculture and environmental management industries have developed, scientific research has been undertaken and tools have become available to measure and quantify the social and environmental benefits provided by the urban forest. We can now prove the value and importance of green infrastructure and justify the cost of maintaining this important asset. This Strategy will ensure industry best practice and cost effective resource allocation to maximize community benefits.
Development of this Strategy has involved the following steps:
- Assess our existing Urban Forest to define the asset.
- Measure existing performance - calculate the economic value of the existing Urban Forest as an asset and as a provider of ecosystem services.
- Determine appropriate canopy cover goals for North Sydney and set targets and priorities.
- Develop a strategy to achieve our canopy cover goals and targets.
- Set in place appropriate measures to monitor and assess our performance.
Our key objectives are:
- To ensure no net loss of canopy.
- To value and manage the urban forest as an integral and essential component of urban infrastructure.
- To strategically plan and work across administrative boundaries and disciplines within the North Sydney Local Government Area to effectively manage the urban forest.
- To maximize community awareness, understanding and appreciation of the value and benefits of the urban forest.
