More trees for Sydney’s greenest CBD

Sydney’s greenest business district is about to get even greener, with more than 600 new trees planted in Macquarie Park - and plans for thousands more.

City of Ryde Council recently planted new trees along Epping Road, and Coxs Road in North Ryde, in a push jointly funded by the New South Wales government.

“More trees provide improved air quality, vital shade for our community and help mitigate the urban heat-island effect,” Mayor of Ryde, Clr Jerome Laxale said.

“The 1,200 trees in total that will be planted this year will increase the amenity and character of our City and help us to achieve our ultimate goal of increasing tree canopy by 40 percent by 2030.”

“This goal is in line with NSW Government targets to plant five million new trees across Greater Sydney by 2030.”

Bordered on one side by Lane Cove National Park - and with more street tree coverage than either the City of Sydney or Parramatta CBDs - Macquarie Park’s leafy green credentials are well established.

Did you know Macquarie Park is also home to a significant remnant of the critically endangered Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest (STIF)?

Uniquely adapted to the climate and soil of the region, this unique type of native tree and shrub cover was once common across Sydney’s northern suburbs, and is now both rare and vulnerable.

Trees likes the Grey Ironbark and the Stringybarks as well as shrubs like the Paper Daisy and Mock Olives were once a thriving part of our ecological landscape but have since dwindled.

Connect Macquarie Park Innovation District General Manager, Mark Ames, believes there are opportunities for the area to go even greener:

“More trees are most welcome! The Department of Planning’s 20 year vision for Macquarie Park proposes more than 5,000 additional new trees for our area. Wouldn’t it be great if we could booster our fragile STIF ecosystems as we further green Macquarie Park?

“Connect MPID has suggested these 5,000 trees be delivered via a coordinated community building program, with local stakeholders invited to participate by planting STIF trees and shrubs to support and reinforce the local ecology.”

“In addition to increasing tree cover, this will create opportunities to activate the area, bring people from different communities together, and foster a greater connection to Country.”

If you live in the City of Ryde and would like a street tree planted outside your property, you can make a request online for your site to be assessed.