Green Cover Percentage Calculator

Work out green cover percentage instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Green Cover Percentage Calculator

Green cover is usually reported two ways: total vegetated area and tree canopy specifically, because canopy delivers most of the shading and cooling benefit while lawn and shrub cover deliver relatively little. National forest policy targets of a third of land area refer to forest cover, while urban canopy targets are typically fifteen to thirty percent.

Formulas

Green cover

Cover percent = (tree canopy + other vegetation) / total area x 100

Canopy cover

Canopy percent = tree canopy / total area x 100

Worked example

With the default values below, Green Cover Percentage Calculator returns Total green cover of 20.00%. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Total area assessedminimum 0.01 ha: 100 ha
Tree canopy areaminimum 0 ha: 12 ha
Other vegetated areaminimum 0 ha: 8 ha
Target green coveraccepts 1–90 %: 33 %

Results

Total green cover: 20.00% %
Tree canopy cover: 12.00% %
Shortfall against the target: 13.00 ha
Assessment: Below target — additional planting required

Step by step

1Values used
2Green cover
3Canopy cover
4Total green cover= 20.00 %
5Tree canopy cover= 12.00 %
6Shortfall against the target= 13.00 ha
7Assessment= Below target — additional planting required

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the Green Cover Percentage figure worked out?

Cover percent = (tree canopy + other vegetation) / total area x 100. Green cover is usually reported two ways: total vegetated area and tree canopy specifically, because canopy delivers most of the shading and cooling benefit while lawn and shrub cover deliver relatively little.

Why report canopy separately?

Because a hectare of mown grass and a hectare of mature tree canopy are not equivalent. Canopy provides shade, interception of rainfall and evaporative cooling that grass does not.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 4 inputs: Total area assessed, Tree canopy area, Other vegetated area, Target green cover. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic worked example — replace them with your own site or project figures.