Why Islington Park's landmark figs are cordoned off

Dozens of Islington Park's landmark Moreton Bay fig trees have been cordoned off, but why?

The measure is part of a continuing effort to extend their life.

City of Newcastle confirmed bunting around the base of the 140-year-old trees lining Maitland Road was designed to protect understory growth, which is part of a strategy to preserve the trees.

More than 50 volunteers have helped plant 3500 endemic plants from 40 species in the area in recent years.

The overall health of the veteran trees remains unchanged.

They have an expected life span of between 150 and 200 years.

Most of the park's trees, sourced from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, were planted between 1879 and 1880 by the Wickham Municipal Council.

They were supplemented with plantings in 1937 to mark the golden jubilee of Islington School.

The trees were the site of one of the city's first environmental protests when locals gathered in 1935 to protect trees earmarked for removal for the establishment of Islington Bowling Club.

City of Newcastle's tree asset management system contains more than 110,000 street and park trees.

The majority of the city's mature trees were planted between 1930 and 1950 as street trees to create avenues or as single rows in centre road medians.

The remainder were planted along the perimeters of public parks and reserves.

BHP made extensive plantings of Hills Figs throughout Newcastle to screen its industrial facilities and in response to demands to improve the amenity of the city.

As a result, the number of mature Hills Fig on private land might exceed the number on public land.