About Camden's Trees

Camden Council manages approximately 28,000 individual trees across the borough and 10-15,000 additional trees as part of sites of nature conservation. The Council's tree officers collect data on individual Council trees as part of routine inspections and input this data into the Council's tree database Confirm Arboriculture©. We are working to share publicly information stored in the database as part of Camden's open data initiative. Currently open data contains trees on highways, parks, housing (communal), education and a few other Council owned properties. On this page you will find a tree profile containing charts created directly from the database, which are updated on a daily basis automatically. Below the tree profile is information commonly sought as part of Freedom of Information requests (FOI) along with other interesting statistics. Please visit the Trees in Camden map for information on individual trees.

If you would like to get in touch or find our more information about the Camden tree policy and management of Council owned trees please visit: http://www.camden.gov.uk/trees.  (Please note: The information provided is live and may have minor data errors, but is reviewed on a regular basis.)

Having challenging urban conditions, an uncertain future with climage change and new pest and diseases arriving in the UK, means a diverse tree stock is vital to making a healthy, resilient urban forest. We aim to increase the diversity of Camden's tree stock by planting trees from various species and genera, but also planting natives where appropriate. The Council follows the principle of 'right tree, right place.'

The graph below shows the spread of tree maturity. While we have a good stock of mature trees, we also have many young trees ready to take their place. Where possible, we plant trees which will have a long life span, will reach maturity and provide maximum benefits to the community and environment.

This graph shows the overall physiological condition of Council owned trees in the borough. Trees listed as dead are likely to be in the process of removal or, where appropriate, left as standing deadwood for habitat.

The Council has accurate tree removal and planting data dating back to 2009-10.  We aim to plant a minimum of 400 trees annually. Note: The total trees removed also includes small, self-sown trees from street property sites.

As part of our tree planting strategy, we are now collecting figures from other organisations (e.g. City of London, Royal Parks) which are planting trees in Camden.

2021-22: 115 standards, 1735 whips

2022-23: 83 standards, 500 whips

2023-24: 151 standards, 805 whips

We have a robust tree management programme in place and the amount of third party tree root claims has fallen over the past 15 years, which has reduced the related claim cost to the Council.

2002-2007:  averaged 100 claims/year costing £920,000 total annually

2008-2013: averaged 49 claims/year costing £500,000 total annually

2014: 23 claims costing £216,000 total

2015: 10 claims costing £93,500 total

2016: 2 claims costing £2,500 total

We have calculated our tree canopy cover back to 1999 and it has increased ~1.1% in the last 9 years up to 22.9%. The canopy cover includes council land, private land and green spaces not managed by the Council.