Canberra’s tree canopy has gone backwards over the past five years, prompting the ACT Greens to call for urgent action to protect suburbs from rising heat and extreme weather.

The ACT Government’s latest data shows canopy coverage has fallen from 23 per cent in 2020 to 22 per cent in 2025 — putting the city off-track to meet its 2045 target of 30 per cent across the urban footprint.

ACT Greens climate adaptation spokesperson Andrew Braddock MLA said the trend undermines Canberra’s reputation as a “bush capital”.

“Canberrans appreciate living in cool leafy suburbs with surrounding green spaces that protect us from extreme weather,” he said.

“But under Labor’s watch, tree canopy coverage has declined … Clearly, something needs to change.”

Mr Braddock said outer-suburban areas such as Macnamara and Whitlam were especially vulnerable, with fewer trees and more residents likely to be affected by extreme heat.

“Business-as-usual is not good enough while Canberrans are set to face more extreme weather, including heatwaves,” he said. “Canberrans deserve an explanation from Labor.”

Government response

The ACT Government said the slight decline reflected differences between public and private land, as well as the age profile of Canberra’s trees.

New LiDAR data shows overall urban canopy has shifted from 22.7 per cent in 2020 to 21.8 per cent in 2025 (±1 per cent). Canopy cover on unleased public land increased from 23 to 24 per cent over the same period, while leased private land fell from 21 to 19 per cent.

The government said established canopy naturally declined in older suburbs as mature trees reached the end of their life expectancy, while trees planted in newer suburbs were not yet tall enough to be captured in the data.

It also cited reduced planting space on smaller blocks in high-growth areas such as Gungahlin, Molonglo and West Belconnen.

The expanded 2020–25 public tree planting program is not expected to appear in canopy statistics until the 2030 LiDAR survey, once new plantings are at least three metres tall.

The government reaffirmed its 2045 target of 30 per cent canopy cover, and said officials were assessing further planting opportunities in light of the new data.

Other responses

Independent MLA Thomas Emerson thought the Greens’ criticisms rang hollow.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do on tree canopy coverage, which is flatlining despite government commitments,” he said.

“I’m not shy about criticising the government when it underperforms, but this is pretty loose commentary from the Greens. Didn’t we have a Greens Environment Minister for four out of five years from 2020 to 2025?”

Independent MLA Fiona Carrick said upcoming planning reforms would play a major role in determining whether the city can preserve and grow its canopy.

“The design of the missing middle reforms will be critical to ensuring the tree canopy is not reduced through densification,” she said.