City Services Minister Chris Steel welcomed the recognition, and said the capital's trees were one of the things that gave the city its special character.

"This autumn we'll be planting another 5,250 trees across our city, including in parks and open spaces in our suburbs," Mr Steel said.

"This planting will continue until June, as we work to deliver 54,000 more trees across Canberra by 2024."

Recognition as an international tree city requires local authorities to take responsibility for tree management, have a set of rules for managing the urban forest, along with an inventory of plantings.

Tree cities must also have a dedicated budget for tree management and plantings, and an annual celebration of trees.

Recognised cities, which are spread across 21 countries, include Toronto, Canada; Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand; Stockholm, Sweden; and Sheffield, England.

The program is an initiative of Abor Day Foundation and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Canberra's Tree Week began on Saturday, when the recognition as an international tree city was announced.

Tree week events include a heritage tour of the Yarralumla Nursery, where many of Canberra's urban trees were propagated, along with poetry readings, tree walks and events at ACT libraries.

Meanwhile, the ACT government is considering new laws that would mean homeowners need to plant two new trees for every tree they remove, or pay $600 a tree if planting two trees is impossible.

Property developers would be required to replant trees they removed or make a payment based on the value of tree, which could be as high as $14,980 in high-density areas.

The laws would also place regulations on more public and private trees, along with establishing a bond system that would require developers who risk damaging trees as part of nearby work to pay the value of the tree in advance.

Bonds will be imposed when a tree management plan or public land permit is approved.

The ACT government previously committed to a 30 per cent tree canopy cover in Canberra by 2045, which will require 450,000 extra trees. A 2020 analysis showed the tree canopy cover in the city was 22.5 per cent.

The government allocated $14 million over three years in last year's territory budget to plant tens of thousands of trees.

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