What is Urban Forest?

Urban forest is the totality of woody vegetation occurring across the urban landscape. The concepts of urban forest and urban forestry are relatively new and are the subject of ongoing debate, however, there is international agreement that the focus is primarily on trees in proximity to where urban people live and work. A lack of information about urban forest and the dispersed nature of the resource on public and private land has hindered the development of an integrated approach to its management.

The urban forest is increasingly being recognised as a resource within the urban fabric, and the need for a more unified approach to its management is being acknowledged, not only for public lands such as city parks, reserves and streets, but also for the extensive areas of privately owned green spaces within and near urban areas.

Urban forest has been acknowledged at the State level by the NSW Local Government Association which adopted an Urban Forest Policy in November 2003. The policy defines urban forest as “the totality of trees and shrubs on all public and private land in and around urban areas (including bushland, parkland, gardens and street trees), measured as a canopy cover percentage of the total area, and is recognised as a primary component of the urban ecosystem”.

Vision for Newcastle Urban Forest

The vision is of an attractive, liveable city with a thriving urban forest that provides economic, ecological and social benefits as part of Newcastle's essential and valued infrastructure that is managed and cared for by the City and its citizens.

Urban Forest Goals

The overall goals are to:

1. recognise the importance of the urban forest to the health and well-being of Newcastle and to its ecological and economic security

2. maximise the capacity of Newcastle’s urban forest to provide ecological, economic, social and aesthetic benefits to both present and future generations

3. sustain and expand Newcastle’s urban forest on an intergenerational life cycle basis.

Urban Forest Objectives

The following are the specific objectives for the Newcastle urban forest:

Quality & quantity of urban forest

• promote increased long-term public and private investment in the urban forest to provide benefits to:

• microclimate regulation
• soil and water management
• air quality management
• carbon storage
• biodiversity conservation
• recreation
• culture & aesthetics
• traffic management
• economic development
• economic products

• increase the aggregate extent of the urban forest to achieve density targets once these targets have been determined for Australian urban conditions

• compensate for loss of urban forest potential resulting from development processes

• improve the overall structure, health and condition of the urban forest

Planning processes

• integrate planning for the urban forest with local and regional processes for land use and settlement planning

• improve the compatibility of trees and vegetation with buildings and infrastructure through planning, design, engineering and arboricultural practices

Education & research

• improve knowledge and understanding of Newcastle’s urban forest, its ecological processes, the benefits it provides and how it should be managed

• monitor changes in Newcastle’s urban forest over time.

Community focus

• involve the community as a key partner in managing Newcastle’s urban forest.