Our collective Taonga: Urban forest plan

A plan for the future of Auckland's urban forest

Introduction

This plans sets out how we want to protect, improve, and celebrate Auckland's urban forest over the next 10 years and the steps to get us there.

Auckland's vegetation reflects and is defined by the city's coastal Pacific location, its volcanic features, natural landscape and communities.

We need to make sure that the urban forest is valued for more than aesthetic reasons and this plan is based on a consideration of the environment, cultural, social and economic benefits of the forest.

'Places for people, places for nature' is Auckland City Council's overarching framework for the future improvement, protection and management of Auckland's open space network. The framework establishes the open space contribution to the vision of Auckland as a First City of the Pacific and provides the strategic context and direction for this plan.

The 'Urban forest plan' is one of six action plans that will deliver 'Places for people, places for nature'. The plan relates to vegetation on the Auckland isthmus. An action plan for the Hauraki Gulf Islands will address the range of open space issues in the islands and will link with the urban forest plan.

There are three key sections to the urban forest plan:

Challenges:

based on our understanding of Auckland's urban forest this section provides an outline of the issues and opportunities for the urban forest.

Objectives:

in response to the challenges, the strategic context, and council's aspirations, the objectives provide the future direction for the city's urban forest.

Actions:

how we intend to deliver our objectives within work currently underway and in the next three and five years. An evaluation framework to measure performance indicators for the urban forest will be developed to support the open space framework. There will be regular reporting to the city's residents and businesses on achievements and progress.

1. 1 What the urban forest plan covers

Auckland Domain

Symonds Street cemetery

Pohutukawa along cliff lines

Diagram showing storeys of urban forest - tree, shrub and understorey. Image courtesy of Auckland Regional Council.

Click to view in PDF format (258kb)
diagram showing storeys of urban forest -
tree, shrub and understorey. Image
courtesy of Auckland Regional Council.

We have defined the urban forest as all vegetation, including habitats and ecosystems, on the Auckland isthmus.

Urban forest represents ecosystems characterised by the presence of trees and other vegetation in association with human developments [1].

This plan covers both the public and privately-owned urban forest. There are other definitions of the term 'urban forest' that are used elsewhere. In Europe, the term is limited usually to large forested sites, in or near urban areas, under public ownership [2].

Our definition of Auckland's urban forest allows for a holistic view of habitats, native and non-native species in a wide range of settings, from large native forest patches, to streamside plantings and the individual trees that line our streets.

Auckland City Council recognises that it can take different roles in the future development of the urban forest - as forest owner; as regulator, educator or supporter of the forest on private land; and as partner and advocate with others, such as community-based restoration groups.

The plan has the following areas of focus:

public land including streets, parks, squares and utility easements
transport and utility corridors, including railway and motorway corridors
coastal edge and esplanade areas
waterways and riparian planting
land containing native ecosystems
influencing the urban forest on private land.

1.2 Why do we need a plan for the future of Auckland city's urban forest?

Aucklanders consider our beautiful natural environment as the city's major asset, in particular the harbours, volcanic cones, parks, trees, birds and green and public open spaces [3]. Auckland's urban forest of native and introduced vegetation is one of the defining components of the city's natural environment, helping to establish the city's identity and character.

New Zealand's Biodiversity Strategy [4] identifies urban areas as important places for maintaining our indigenous biodiversity. This plan promotes the urban forest's contribution to Auckland's biodiversity.

This plan focuses on improving the contribution of the urban forest to Auckland city's environmental, cultural, social and economic sustainability.

Figure 1 illustrates the relationship between the vision for Auckland, the council's six strategic objectives and this plan for Auckland's urban forest.

Figure 1: The open space framework and the six supporting action plans (54k PDF)

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1.3 History and current status

Auckland's original forests were rich, with over a third of New Zealand's 2200 vascular plants and comprising a number of unique ecosystem types, including lava forests, kauri dominated broadleaf/podocarp forests, and coastal broadleaf forests. A high proportion of New Zealand's unique wildlife, including moa, kiwi, kakapo, tuatara, and giant weta, were also present in the Auckland area.

Since human colonisation, fires, land clearance, and development have significantly altered the native landscape and negatively affected indigenous biodiversity.

The small forested areas that remained early on in the establishment of Auckland have largely been protected within parks and reserves, with remnants of native vegetation on the Hillsborough edge of the Manukau Harbour, the Orakei Basin, the Tamaki Estuary and small pockets scattered across the isthmus. There are many privately owned properties on the boundaries of these bush reserves and there has been ongoing incremental loss of forest patches and native trees due to subdivision and bush clearance.

European settlers introduced and planted many exotic species that provide the autumn foliage colour largely absent among the predominantly evergreen New Zealand plants. Native and exotic trees planted in gardens and streetscapes in the early 1900s are now stately trees adding maturity and a leafy structure to older suburbs of Auckland.

Unfortunately, some of the introduced plants are less desirable, and Auckland is considered one of the world's 'weediest' cities. Together with the introduction of mammalian pests, invasive weeds continue to threaten native biodiversity within the remaining urban forest habitats.

The Appendix provides more information about the forests across Auckland's landscape.

1. Nowark et al', 'People and Trees: assessing the US urban forest resource', Journal of Forestry, March 2001

2. Clifton, 'Tree Collections for Auckland - Biodiversity and management', RNZIH (Greening the City Conference 2003).

3. Auckland City Community Outcomes

4. The New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy (2000)

5. Landcare media release January 2006 'Doctors prescribe attitude change for world's weediest city'. http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/news/release.asp?News_ID=187

Published February 2008