FAQs

The Urban Forest Strategic Plan will guide how we protect, plant, and manage trees and green spaces across the city over the next decade. It will help the City make decisions about where to plant more trees, how to care for existing ones, and how to ensure everyone benefits from a cooler, greener Gold Coast.

Trees play a huge role in making our city healthy and liveable. They provide shade, reduce heat, support wildlife, and make our neighbourhoods more beautiful. The plan will help the City understand where more trees are needed and how to better manage and maintain them into the future.

Our “urban forest” includes all the trees and vegetation in parks, streets, backyards, and natural areas across the city. Together, these trees form an important network that keeps our city cool, supports wildlife, and improves air quality.

The Urban Forest Strategic Plan is focused on protecting and expanding our tree canopy - not removing it. While some trees across the city may need to be replaced over time for safety or health reasons, the plan’s focus is on ensuring we plant more trees than we lose and that they’re planted in the right places to provide the greatest benefits.

We want to hear from you! You can:

• Complete the online survey to share your thoughts on priorities for tree planting and management.
• Drop pins on our interactive map to show where you think more trees are needed — for example, on streets, in parks, or around community spaces.

Your feedback will help shape a plan that reflects what matters most to our community.

All community feedback will be reviewed and combined with expert analysis to help inform the draft Urban Forest Strategic Plan. A summary of what we heard and how it’s being used will be shared on this page once the consultation period ends.

Community consultation is open from 11 to 25 November 2025. After consultation closes, community feedback will be reviewed alongside expert input and data from research and heat mapping across the city to help draft the Urban Forest Strategic Plan. A summary of community feedback will be shared, and further updates will be available on this page in early 2026.

Visit gchaveyoursay.com.au/urbanforest to read more about the project, watch our video, complete the survey, and drop pins on the interactive map. In completing the GCHYS survey you can also provide your email to stay up to date with the project. You can also follow the City of Gold Coast on social media for updates and opportunities to get involved.