Ljubljana is recognized as a »Tree City« within the framework of the programme »Tree Cities of the World«. The recognition is awarded by the Arbor Day Foundation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the united Nations (FAO) to encourage cities to care for their trees.

The objective of the initiative is to promote active solving of some of the greatest global challenges such as the provision of clean water and air, and mitigation of the consequences of climate change and extinction of species.
Ljubljana earned the international recognition Tree Cities of the World by meeting five requisite criteria:

• Established responsibility: we maintain a green infrastructure and together with a professional service and a certified arborist care for the city trees.
• Set rules for tree management: management of trees in set out in the Decree on maintenance and cleaning of municipal streets and public green surfaces and, and we have also adopted the Protocol for performing work in tree areas and the Guidelines for planning, caring for (maintaining) and protecting trees at construction sites.
• Established database: we have set up a tree database, enabling us to evaluate the state of trees and make long-term plans for trimming, planting and other measures.
• Allocated resources: we have allocated resources in the budget for the implementation of the city tree management plan.
• Celebrating/commemorating trees: we mark 28 November, Tree Day, to raise public awareness on the important role of the trees in the city. On that day last year, we chose the tree of the year, the sycamore tree on the corner of Streliška and Strossmayer Street.

The presenters of the recognition underscored that Ljubljana with all its activities significantly contributes to the international efforts for the recognition of towns and cities striving toward proper care for forests and trees in cities and outskirts, their sustainable management and marking this appropriately.

Ljubljana cares for city trees

The City of Ljubljana is aware of the importance of city trees as they have a beneficial effect on the psychological and physical wellbeing of people and significantly contribute to the health, beauty and functionality of the urban environment. As trees affect the temperature and air humidity in the city, intercept dust particles, noise, wind and rainwater, produce oxygen, block solar radiation and clean air, they significantly contribute to the quality of the living environment for people, animals and plants in the city. At the same time, trees play an extremely important role in the fight against climate change. Namely, trees absorb carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas contributing to global warming.
We strive to preserve each and every tree in the city and we are also constantly planting new trees. Within the scope of regular maintenance of public green surfaces we plant from 300 to 600 in tree-rows each year. Numerous trees are additionally planted within the framework of renovating streets, roads, parking lots and designing new surfaces. We are also caring for fruit trees in city orchards and are carrying out afforestation of forests. So far, we have planted over 40,000 trees, in total.