About our tree canopy today

Boroondara is known for its abundance of trees, which provide the large range of benefits outlined below.

We need to protect this important part of our city by maintaining and expanding Boroondara's tree canopy.

Tree canopy in Boroondara is defined as all trees and shrubs over 3 metres. This includes trees and shrubs in streets and transport corridors, parks, native reserves, private gardens, schools and any other area within our city limits.

In Boroondara today, 25.7% of all land is covered by tree canopy. Of this total:

  • 23.3% of all private land is covered by tree canopy
  • 31.6% of all public land is covered by tree canopy.

Benefits

Trees provide environmental, economic and social benefits for our community:

Challenges and threats

Urban environments can be difficult for trees, with threats and challenges limiting their ability to thrive and survive.

There are a number of threats to our tree canopy. These threats include:

  • overshadowing and wind tunnel impacts from large development
  • pruning clearances required around buildings, lighting and power lines
  • extreme heat and drought
  • pests and diseases
  • branch damage from large vehicles
  • root damage caused by footpath, kerb and drainage works
  • radiated heat from hard surfaces
  • lack of root space, nutrient and water to support growth
  • competition with underground services given priority over trees.

There are challenges in managing tree canopy on private land.

These challenges include the statutory limitations of tree protection regulations, pressures caused by increased urban densification and larger dwellings, community attitudes and perceptions, and available data.

For a full list of these challenges, download a copy of the draft strategy from our document library on our main page and refer to section 4.

There are challenges in managing tree canopy on Council-owned land.

These challenges include balancing the diverse needs and uses public land must accommodate for (like parks and open spaces, roads, footpaths and drainage), considerations and regulations around infrastructure owned and managed by other authorities (like powerlines, underground communication cables and water mains), community concerns about risks caused by trees (like mess and damage) and damage caused by infrastructure renewals and underground services.

For a full list of these challenges, download a copy of the draft strategy from our document library on our main page and refer to section 4.

How we currently manage trees

We currently follow these guidelines and laws to protect and manage trees in Boroondara:

We recently made changes to our Tree Protection Local Law following community consultation. The updated Tree Protection Local Law was adopted by Councillors on Monday 27 May 2024. Find out more on our Tree Canopy Local Law consultation page.

We have 2 Council teams dedicated to managing trees. They are responsible for:

  • maintaining, removing and planting trees on public land
  • matters related to trees on private land.

Some of the things we do include: