Data collated by RMIT University and Greener Spaces Better Places has found that more than half of Sydney’s councils lost urban forest cover between the years of 2013 and 2020.

A lack of planning in the wake of development can be attributed to the clearing of trees in a number of local government areas. A number of experts claim that if there aren’t a number of trees planted in the near future, certain regions may be deemed uninhabitable.

The State Government is currently playing catch up, indicating it aims to plant five million trees by 2030 and has a target of 40 percent tree canopy cover in all LGAs by 2036. The data indicates the City of Ryde has lost nearly seven percent of its forest cover, with Burwood and Canada Bay losing six and four percent respectively. On the other end of the scale, the Sutherland Shire increased its tree coverage by nine percent, with Hornsby ranking second with a seven percent growth and the City of Sydney running third with three percent.

“The ramifications of tree loss is to diminish and eventually to eliminate the benefits that the urban forest provides,” he said. “In the context of urban cooling and associated amenity, this will be the difference between liveable and unliveable suburbs in many areas of our cities,” says RMIT Associate Professor Joe Hurley in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald. 

Hurley believes that the planning processes for the development of new towns do not create climate-resilient neighbourhoods with effective urban forest cover. A City of Ryde spokesperson says a seven percent drop in canopy coverage could have catastrophic long term effects on the area, and attributes the decline to development.

“This includes the increase of medium- to high-density developments and the introduction of private certification which subverts the Council approval process. This means Council has very little recourse to enforce its own tree retention and replanting policies.”

Suburbs with higher levels of tree canopy coverage typically have higher property values. The value of a property can also increase by around $50,000 if there is a ten percent increase in tree canopy in the immediate area.

Urban forest consultant Gwilym Griffiths says that there must be more done to ensure a significant growth in tree canopy percentages.

“Trees were never meant to grow in cities, nature did not design for them to grow in urban areas, however they have now become essential assets in our cities, and we need them to make our cities liveable and resilient. A city that cannot sustain trees will soon be a city that cannot sustain people.”

Bayside Council is ranked the lowest for urban forest cover in Sydney with a total of 17.2 percent. Cumberland City (18 percent), Camden (18.3 percent) and Fairfield City (19.1 percent were the next lowest. Hornsby Shire possesses the largest tree canopy in Sydney, with 78.6 percent coverage. Sutherland (72.6 percent), The Hills Shire (63.5 percent) and Northern Beaches (62.6 percent) areas are ranked second, third and fourth.

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