North Sydney Draft Urban Forest Strategy

The new North Sydney Draft Urban Forest Strategy is on public exhibition until 15 April 2011. The culmination of several years of research and mapping of the North Sydney Urban Forest; the Strategy provides an in-depth look at how the ‘green infrastructure’ of the area is performing now and considers how its performance can be maximised into 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. Key strategy objectives are to:

• ensure no net loss of canopy;
• value and manage the urban forest as an integral and essential component of urban infrastructure;
• strategically plan and work across administrative boundaries and disciplines within the North Sydney Local Government Area to effectively manage the urban forest; and
• maximize community awareness, understanding and appreciation of the value and benefits of the urban forest.