Your say on updating our register of significant trees

Trees play a vital role in the future of Sydney. They’re the largest living things in the urban environment and are a city’s life support system. Significant trees meet one or more of the formal classification criteria for historical, cultural, social, ecological, commemorative or outstanding visual significance. They can be located on streets, parks and private property.

Listings range from the monumental Moreton Bay figs in Observatory Hill to an overarching avenue of golden rain trees in Surry Hills. Significant trees are an important part of the natural and cultural landscape. They contribute to our heritage and unique character, and help make our urban environment healthy and more beautiful.

We’re promoting and protecting these important trees and their landscape settings.

Register of significant trees

Our inventory of trees considered significant aims to broadly identify and recognise their importance, guide their management and ensure their protection for future generations.

The register was originally adopted in 2005 and prepared by Noel Ruting, LandArc. This included a thorough physical examination of trees and the relationship to their natural occurrence or cultural history, further supported by field work examination of reports, photographs, archival material and oral evidence.

Robert Smart from Arterra Design reviewed and updated this list and public nominations were taken in 2012-2013. The register had a final list of 2674 significant trees (excluding those managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust).

Before any tree can be included, it needs to meet our assessment and classification criteria. These were informed by practices in heritage identification and assessment, including the Burra Charter and the Heritage Council of NSW’s Assessing Heritage Significance (updated 2023).

Visual significance

• Outstanding for their height, trunk diameter or canopy spread.
• Located in highly visible, landmark or unusual context.
• Enhance the character of their surroundings, including streetscapes, parks, gardens or natural environment.
• Unusual growth or physical feature, including unusually pruned forms.
• Reflecting an important or highly regarded landscape design or aesthetic style.

Botanic significance

• Rare or possessing significant genetic characteristics, making them important for conservation or propagation efforts. This includes trees resistant to disease, able to withstand extreme climatic conditions, or exhibiting unique growth that could be valuable for research.
• A likelihood of producing information that will help the understanding of natural or cultural history due to its use in research, teaching, location or benchmark.

Ecological significance

• Rare, threatened or locally uncommon species or ecological communities.
• Locally indigenous trees that predate the urban development in their immediate area.
• A crucial role in an ecosystem, including serving as a seed source for regeneration or providing specialised habitats for wildlife.
• Represents a species now reduced in range or abundance, helping to indicate the former extent of that species’ habitat or marking the limits of its distribution.
• Considerably modifies the local micro climate by providing shade, cooling or acting as windbreaks.

Historical significance

• Associated with public significance or important historical events.
• Linked to a heritage-listed place and/or representative of an historic era.
• Old or respected.

Social /cultural significance

• Special associations with a particular community or cultural group for reasons of strong religious, spiritual, cultural or other social associations.
• Important to a local community’s sense of place.
• A recognised association with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and valued for its role in continuing and developing cultural traditions.

Commemorative significance

• Associated with or dedicated to a significant person or group.

Most trees are protected even though they may not satisfy the requirements for listing in the register.

When pruning is required for a tree on the register, the standard application process applies for tree pruning.

A development application is required for most tree removal requests.

If you consider a special tree meets the classification criteria and should be included in the register, nominate below.

You’ll need to locate the tree on the map and provide the following information:

• Where is the tree located? (Park, private property or street)
• How do you access the tree? (Accessible to the public, visible from a public space, not accessible to the public)
• Are you nominating an individual tree or a group?
• What is the significance of the tree? (Visual, historic, ecological, social, commemorative, botanic, other)
• Botanic or common name, if you know it
• Photo
• Contact details

If you’ve previously nominated a tree which hasn’t been accepted, you can re-submit your selection.

A tree needs to satisfy at least 2 of the criteria. This is especially important if the primary motivation for listing it is simply visual or aesthetic value.

Our experts:

• conduct a thorough site inspection of each nominated tree
• assess each tree and species in relation to its natural occurrence
• research the cultural history, when relevant, through reports, photographs, archival material and oral evidence
• evaluate the collected data on the basis of each tree’s contextual relationship to other similar trees and its relative importance.

Current listings

You can comment on an existing tree in the register. Locate the tree on the map and enter your feedback using the online form.