All of the many thousands of trees in Sheffield’s urban realm; in parks, gardens, open spaces , and amenity areas, in woodlands, along streets, railways and waterways, are collectively described as the ‘urban forest’. This report provides a comprehensive picture of the structure and a conservative estimate of the value of Sheffield’s urban forest.
The results presented in this report were collected through a stratified i-Tree Eco random sample exercise. 261 plots were surveyed by teams of trained volunteers and professionals across Sheffield, measuring land-use, ground-cover and over 1,200 trees. Information collected included species, height, diameter of the trunk and canopy spread. Using this data with iTree provides a quantitative baseline assessment of the air pollution, carbon storage, carbon sequestration, stormwater benefits and amenity value of the entire tree resource in Sheffield, accounting for the trees on both public and private land. Only part of the iTree software resource has been utilised in producing this report. There is much more data and additional functionality within the suite of iTree tools which goes beyond the scope of this assessment.
This detailed report provides the information necessary for the production of a comprehensive management plan for Sheffield’s urban forest. It provides relevant information and recommendations to inform the council’s tree strategy in the short, medium and long-term and provides the baseline information for ward-level comparisons. Headline figures are presented in table 1, opposite.
