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 and examining reports, photographs, archival material and oral evidence.

The latest draft register has been developed by the City of Sydney and consultants treeiQ, who are urban forest, heritage landscape and Caring for Country specialists helping review supporting information and the nominations received. Our team created the online mapping tools.

In March 2025, we asked for your feedback as part of the latest review. This provided an opportunity for you to nominate new trees and to provide feedback about any existing trees on the register.

A total of 73 submissions were received, consisting of 68 online nominations and 5 email submissions. All submissions have been reviewed and, where appropriate, the register has been updated in response to the issues raised. 140 trees are recommended to be added to the register.

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.

A formal application or a development application is required for most tree removal requests.