Auckland has again been recognised as a Tree City of the World by the Arbor Day Foundation and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
The city has attained the status for the fourth year running and is joined by Tauranga as another New Zealand city to gain the international accreditation. There are 200 successful cities recognised this year, in the Tree Cities of the World scheme, across 22 countries.
Chair of Auckland Council’s Planning, Environment and Parks Committee, Councillor Richard Hills said he was proud that Tāmaki Makaurau has again been recognised as a Tree City of the World.
“Auckland is filled with trees, in our streets, parks and public places and I’m thrilled we have been recognised for our efforts in increasing and improving our urban ngahere cover. Communities see the benefits of us working with them to plant thousands of mature street trees across our city and hectares of new forest in our regional parks,” he said.
“A healthy urban ngahere creates a healthy living environment with many social, cultural, economic, and environmental benefits for communities. Whether it’s shade for children as they walk to school or the reduced emissions and reduced stormwater runoff, planting and protecting trees is crucial for the liveability of our city into the future.”
The Arbor Day Foundation is the world’s largest nonprofit membership organisation dedicated to planting trees; while the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Both organisations came together in 2019 to found Tree Cities of the World. The programme is a global effort to recognise cities and towns committed to ensuring that their urban forests and trees are properly maintained, sustainably managed, and duly celebrated.
“Trees are important to people, no matter what country they are from or what language they speak,” said chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation, Dan Lambe.
“We all want to live in a city that is healthy, resilient, and beautiful – trees serve as a common language to make that possible. Being recognised in the Tree Cities of the World programme means that Auckland is committing to go above and beyond to define trees as critical green infrastructure for your citizens.”
To earn Tree Cities of the World recognition, cities must meet five programme standards: establish responsibility for the care of trees, set rules to govern the management of forests and trees, maintain an updated inventory or assessment of local tree resources, allocate resources for a tree management plan, and hold an annual celebration of trees to educate resident
