Bayside’s Urban Forest Strategy was developed in response to the need for urgent and meaningful action on climate change and was adopted by Council in February 2022 following extensive consultation with our community.

The Bayside Urban Forest Strategy identifies three major goals to increase and improve Bayside’s urban forest and the functions it serves.

• Increase the municipal tree canopy cover from 16% to 30% by 2040.
• Raise awareness of the biodiversity gains that can be provided in backyards, front yards, nature strips and beyond and support the community to increase vegetation cover across Bayside.
• Substantially increase understorey planting, including shrubs, small trees and all other elements that occupy the vegetation layer below the canopy of taller trees, throughout Council streets, parks and reserves to improve native biodiversity, provide habitat and food sources for a range of fauna.

The implementation of the Urban Forest Strategy has already commenced with more than 2,000 indigenous street and park trees planted in addition to the 1,400 trees that Council plants each year.

Developing precinct plans is a key action from the Bayside Urban Forest Strategy to identify specific ways to protect, manage, and grow tree canopy and vegetation cover within each Bayside suburb.

Each precinct plan is informed by community consultation and provides set targets to respond to the individual needs, challenges, and aspirations of the locality.

We created the precinct plans to identify the local areas of greatest need, so we can investigate ways to respond and prioritise planting in these areas.

The prime objective of the precinct plans is to prioritise areas of greatest need, including areas with the lowest existing percentage canopy tree cover, as well as areas that are strategically located to mitigate potential urban heat island effects (including within major activity centres that are experiencing increased density and construction activity), areas of declining canopy or aging trees, areas where vegetation can be planted to improve habitat and provide habitat corridors, highly trafficked pedestrian routes and gaps or vacancies in public planting.

The growth of our urban forest is fundamental in connecting us to nature, contributing to the liveability of our suburbs and integral to maintaining Bayside’s neighbourhood character.

There are currently around 66,000 public trees spread across Bayside. However, since 2014, it is estimated that our tree canopy has decreased by 0.82%. Increasing tree and vegetation cover comes with many environmental and social benefits.

We want to make sure our canopy cover is increasing, and we want to do this the right way; by targeting areas in greatest need and planting species that will help restore ecological functions and enhance habitat and biodiversity outcomes.

Community feedback to develop the plans has helped us ensure the precinct plans will help support residents to green their own spaces, identify ideal locations for priority planting on both public and private land, improve the biodiversity functions of Bayside’s vegetation and to enhance each suburb’s visual and natural character.