Becoming one of London’s most sustainable boroughs: Exploring Barnet’s trees with ezyPortal

The Evolution of Barnet’s Tree Management

The London Borough of Barnet Council has taken significant steps shifting from traditional tree management to a more data-driven and proactive approach for a more sustainable and ecologically conscious future, supporting its ambitious net-zero goals and fostering community engagement in green space management.

The Council’s journey began in 2022, with the declaration of a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency. In January 2023, the Council launched the BarNET Zero Campaign, which set out their vision and journey to becoming a more sustainable borough. In 2023 Barnet Council approved its Tree Policy 2023-28 as part of its long-term sustainability strategy. The key elements of the policy included: Guaranteeing the replacement of every street tree that is removed; Enhancing opportunities for community engagement in tree planting and care; Increasing street tree canopy cover to maximise environmental benefits. The cornerstone of this policy is the ambitious target of planting 5,000 trees by 2028, ensuring the continued expansion of Barnet’s urban forest. The council has also launched their “Trees for Streets” scheme offering residents the opportunity to sponsor new tree plantings across the borough.

In line with its ambitious goals the Council launched Barnet’s interactive Community Tree Portal (ezyPortal) that connects the local community with Barnet’s urban trees, offering unprecedented access to vital information about the borough’s trees on public land. ezyPortal is powered by Ezytreev tree management software, the system the Council has been using since 2010. Developed by the Ezytreev team at RA Information Systems, ezyPortal publishes the Council’s tree data through a publicly accessible, easy to use interface, forging a link between the arboreal world and the local community.

The Portal presents an overview of the current tree inventory and its ecological benefits. An interactive tree map includes layers for existing trees, planned plantings with potential future planting sites. Users can select individual tree icons for details from tree records, including photos, tree dimensions and recent inspection dates.

Tree inventory and the environmental benefits of Barnet’s trees

The tree inventory currently counts just over 50,000 trees recorded within the Borough over 848 hectares of green space and woodland. The Borough is fortunate to have a diverse range of trees in both species and age. Over 230 different species with the most common being Ornamental Cherry and English Oak. Barnet has a healthy tree-age distribution, with approximately a third of trees recorded as Mature or Over-Mature, a similar proportion at Semi-Mature and the remainder Early Mature or Young.

Beyond the aesthetic and historical significance, Barnet’s trees play a crucial role in sustainability and environmental health. Trees contribute to Improving air quality, Enhancing biodiversity, Urban cooling. ezyPortal also presents i-Tree Ecosystem services values, demonstrating the environmental benefits of Barnet’s trees on reducing carbon emissions and supporting climate resilience.

iTree data reveals tangible financial benefits from the tree population account for £3.24 million worth of benefits per year:

•  The total amount of carbon stored by trees within the borough is 52,500 tonnes, which has been removed from the atmosphere and stored within the tree stock. Trees within the Borough remove 1,317 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually from the air as a result of carbon sequestration.

•  The amount of Pollution removed accounts for 20 tonnes per year.

•  The interception of rainfall by trees has a significant impact on drainage capacity, it is estimated that urban trees intercept 54,500m³ of runoff per year throughout the Borough.

•  Barnet significantly contributes to the natural green space and canopy cover of Greater London. Barnet has an impressive tree canopy cover of 27%, which is higher than both the London and England averages.

From the frontline of Barnet’s tree management, Andy Tipping highlights the value of the portal:

“The launch of the Community Tree Portal has been a valuable addition to our work. It’s opened up a new level of transparency and engagement, providing information for Citizen Science use facilitating research and helping residents interact with the Council around the borough’s trees like never before.” — Andy Tipping, Trees & Woodlands Service Manager, Greenspaces Team, Communities, Adults & Health Directorate, Barnet Council.

Interesting fact: Barnet is home to the oldest tree in London, the Totteridge Yew, which is over 2,000 years old and awarded ‘Great Tree of London’ status. It is located in the yard of St. Andrew’s near Totteridge & Whetstone station. iTree estimates the total amount of carbon stored by the Totteridge Yew to be 7.5 tonnes.

Community engagement in action

Becoming one of London’s most sustainable boroughs will take a collective effort with communities engaged, informed, and involved. The portal is accessible at https://barnet.ezyportal.com. In addition to the basics it also tells you a history of any works carried-out on the tree and any scheduled maintenance. One of the portal’s most helpful features is the ability for residents to submit tree enquiries or report tree-related concerns directly from a tree record on the map. Since its introduction at Barnet in 2023, ezyPortal has had 8,531 unique visitors with total page visits of 14771 and 37 enquiries submitted through the portal.

Explore Barnet Community Tree Portal at barnet.ezyportal.com.

Ready to explore ezyPortal for yourself? Simply follow this link.