Tree valuation puts a defensible dollar figure on the benefits a tree provides. There is no market for an established tree, so a valuation anchors to the price of a juvenile tree, scales it up by size, and adjusts it for condition, location and life expectancy. We use the method the job and the jurisdiction call for.
Why it exists and when we use it
A tree's value is argued whenever money turns on it: removal compensation paid into a Council tree fund, a tree-protection bond, an insurance claim, or a loss and damage dispute over a tree that has been damaged or removed. Because an individual mature tree is effectively irreplaceable, every valuation carries judgement. The value of an agreed method is not that it is uniquely correct, but that it is transparent, reproducible between competent assessors, and accepted for the purpose it is used for. A figure that cannot be reproduced from its inputs is not one we will sign.
What it produces
An amenity value, also called socio-ecological value: the dollar value of the benefits a tree provides, without the costs of keeping it, which are argued separately by the party asserting them. Under the Minimum Industry Standard, a preferred valuation is built as a market baseline value, derived from tree size, adjusted by social factors and a quality factor. We record the method and its citation, the reference price and its date, every measurement and factor, and the full calculation, so another competent assessor can reproduce the figure and a validity period is set on it.
What it is built on
MIS506, the Arboriculture Australia and New Zealand Minimum Industry Standard for tree valuation, recognises seven methods: Burnley, City of Melbourne, the CTLA Trunk Formula, i-Tree Eco, STEM, Thyer, and the AANZAA-Value method. We use AANZAA-Value/26, the current Australia and New Zealand consensus method, as our default, because it runs from the data we already collect and scales from a single tree to a whole population. We switch to City of Melbourne, Burnley or Thyer where a client or jurisdiction requires it, and to STEM or i-Tree Eco for their specific purposes. Every method depends on a current, local juvenile-tree reference price, which we confirm before a valuation is relied on.
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