Greening our City — Sydney's Grant-Funded One-Million-Tree Programme, Independently Evaluated With Minimal Biodiversity Gain

Greening our City is a NSW Government programme, financed from the Climate Change Fund, that grants money to councils to plant trees where canopy is low and heat exposure is high. Stage one ran 2018–2022 with AUD 37.5 million; it adopted the Premier's Priority of one million trees, reached in late 2022. Stage two (2023–2030) has a further AUD 60 million. The long-term aim is to lift Greater Sydney's average canopy from 21% to 40% (target year 2036 in the management response).
An independent outcome evaluation by Alluvium Consultants for the Department (executive summary dated 7 July 2023) concluded the programme is on the right trajectory: canopy cover is projected to rise to 2050, with avoided stormwater runoff, air-pollution removal and carbon sequestration increasing; mortality was within the normal range for planting projects; planting sites were shady and associated with psychological restoration and social cohesion.
The evaluation is candid about limits. Improvements in biodiversity and ecological function were minimal; there was no adequate baseline; spatial canopy data were inconsistent; regional modelling (i-Tree Eco) covered about 32,000 trees, roughly 3% of those planted; and social-health data came from only four sites. Recommendations include irrigation beyond the maintenance period, cluster planting, species-mix revision and council capacity-building; the government accepted most in its management response. The 2022 grant round alone gave AUD 9.9 million to 21 projects in 17 councils (17,000+ trees) with a 12-month establishment commitment.

Read the full analysis: https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/policy-and-legislation/urban-greening