Most Australians would be familiar with land that was once covered in trees being cleared for wall-to-wall housing, schools, factories and roads. When people think about the impact of urban development, vegetation clearing is one of the first things to come to mind. Indeed, land clearing for agriculture and urban development is an important cause of vegetation loss and associated environmental harm (e.g. soil erosion, habitat loss, rising temperatures and sedimentation in waterways) (Lindenmayer and Burgman 2005). Vegetation loss in many Australian cities is accelerating; as urban development increases, so does land clearing – with significant impacts on biodiversity at local, regional and global scales (Bryant 2006; Cook-Patton and Bauerle 2012). If left unchecked, vegetation loss will have profound consequences for humans and non-humans in Australia’s cities (Lindenmayer and Burgman 2005). Environmental planners have an important role to play in better managing vegetation in urban areas.