Arborist chapters and branches near you, country by country

This page lists the regional bodies that the big associations name on their own pages. The national bodies, what they sell and what they cost are on the associations and reading guide. None of the groups below has any link to ArboNation. ArboNation is a preview site and has no members, partners or sponsors.

Groups change their sites and their names. Where a table says "chapter" or "associate organization", that is the word on ISA's list. It is not our judgement of how big or active a group is.

How the regional layer works

ISA says on its chapters page that when you join both ISA and your local chapter or associate organization, you get a network of colleagues and resources tailored to your local needs. It adds that regional memberships support local programs and regional tree climbing competitions. The list marks each entry as either a chapter or an associate organization.

The UK, Australia and New Zealand work differently. Each has one national body, and the regional groups sit under it or beside it. The sections below follow that order: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, then New Zealand.

United States

ISA's list shows 23 US entries. Some are single states and some cover several. The table gives each one in the words of the list, with the areas it names.

Three notes on that list. The Pacific Northwest entry is the only one that crosses the border, and the Southern entry is the widest, running from North Carolina to Louisiana and out to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The Dakotas and Georgia are marked as associate organizations, and the Utah entry is a community forestry council that ISA marks as a chapter.

Other US groups

• The Tree Care Industry Association is a company trade body. The TCIA membership page lists no chapters or regional branches.
• The Utility Arborist Association is national. Its home page describes it as the voice of the right-of-way vegetation management industry and lists a yearly conference and a rights-of-way symposium. Its home page shows no chapter list.

Canada

ISA lists four Canadian chapters and gives British Columbia to a fifth, shared one. The table follows the list on ISA's chapters page.

What each site says about itself:

• ISA Ontario calls itself a component chapter of the larger international body. Its mission line is education, research and awareness about trees in Ontario.
• ISA Prairie describes itself as a non-profit dedicated to education and the promotion of certified arborists in the prairie provinces. Its home page lists a Women in the Trees group, and says the chapter and ISA memberships are bought separately.
• ISA Atlantic says membership gives access to a network of over 130 arborists across the Maritimes, and runs the Atlantic Tree Climbing Competition in Moncton, New Brunswick. It also has a TRAQ page on its menu.
• SIAQ says it was founded in 1977 as a non-profit and is the Quebec section of ISA. The site is in French first and has an English switch.

The tree work rules differ from province to province, and the chapters do not set them. For who certifies what, see the certifications guide.

United Kingdom

ISA lists one body for the UK and Ireland, the Arboricultural Association, as an associate organization. The association's branches and groups page says it runs a branch network across the whole of the UK and Ireland. The branches are run by volunteer members, and they organise local training events, lectures, seminars and field trips. It lists these ten branches:

• Cornwall
• East Anglia
• Ireland
• Midlands
• Northern
• Scotland
• South East
• Thames and Chiltern
• Wales
• Western

The page does not list the counties each branch covers. The page offers a map and a list for picking a branch, and each branch has its own page.

The same page has a volunteer form that lists roles such as a careers talk at a school or college, a seat on a branch committee, community events with local groups, and a stand at local exhibitions. The page notes that the association will provide the training and resources for talks, tree walks and exhibitions where relevant.

The association also has working groups that deal with specific issues. One is the Utility Arboriculture Group. Its page says its terms of reference focus on unifying standards for tree work and safety within the utility industry, and it names the electricity network operators, rail, water and telecom clients, the Health and Safety Executive and training bodies as the people it wants to keep in contact with.

Its news items list a national conference on urban greening and a knowledge transfer system for arborists in Ireland. See the Ireland branch page. The Wales branch page lists local events such as a fungi walk at Clyne Gardens in Swansea: Wales branch page.

Australia

Arboriculture Australia is the national body. ISA lists it as an associate organization, and lists the Queensland Arboricultural Association separately. The national body's committees and associations page names its state and territory bodies. It marks four of them with an asterisk and says those are committees of Arboriculture Australia.

"No website listed" means the national page gives the group no link. It does not mean the group does not exist. South Australia has no entry on that page. The national body's minimum industry standards page does name a South Australian Society of Arboriculture among its partner bodies, but gives no site for it.

• Northern Territory: NTAA calls itself a standing committee chapter of Arboriculture Australia. It says it organises an ISA-format climbing competition and local events and workshops.
• Western Australia: ArbWest calls itself Western Australia's peak body for professional arboriculture. Its find a contractor menu has Perth and Peel region and statewide options.
• Queensland: the QAA says it is a not-for-profit established in 1992, serving arborists in Queensland and northern New South Wales. Its site lists workshops, events and a list of contractors and consultants.
• Victoria: the VTIO site lists jobs, events and workshops, downloads and guidelines, and a membership page for the 2026 to 2027 year.

The national page also says Arboriculture Australia runs a National Strategy Group that brings together representatives from each committee, the state and territory associations and the national associations. It lists specialist groups too: Treenet, the Institute of Australian Consulting Arboriculturists and Council Arboriculture Victoria. There is a Utility Arborist Association of Australia section on the national site.

New Zealand

NZ Arb is the national body. Its home page says it was established in 1989 in response to demand for a national body for people involved in tree care. ISA lists it as a chapter, and its own site says "Proud Chapter of the ISA".

NZ Arb does not publish a list of regional branches. Its working groups and liaisons page says its committees and working groups are under review and that contacts will be updated. The working groups page shows a utility arborist development committee and groups for registered master arborists and registered consultants. The working groups page also names coordinators for climbing competitions in Waikato and Bay of Plenty, the South Island and Wellington, and shows Auckland as to be confirmed.

Attendance, fees and licensing

• None of the pages states how many people turn up to a regional meeting, or whether a given group is active.
• Membership fees are on the national and chapter sites. Most show a bare dollar sign or a pound sign with no country code. The associations guide carries the ones that came with a code.
• A chapter is not a licensing body. For what a government or an employer asks for, see the safety rules guide.

For jobs and climbers who may be in these regions, see the jobs board and the climbers page.

Sources

• International Society of Arboriculture, chapters and associate organizations list, read October 5, 2026
• Arboricultural Association, branches and groups, read October 5, 2026
• Arboricultural Association, Utility Arboriculture Group, read October 5, 2026
• Arboricultural Association, Ireland branch, read October 6, 2026
• Arboriculture Australia, committees and associations, read October 5, 2026
• Arboriculture Australia, minimum industry standards, read October 5, 2026
• Northern Territory Arboriculture Association, home page, read October 5, 2026
• ArbWest, home page, read October 6, 2026
• Queensland Arboricultural Association, home page, read October 6, 2026
• ISA Ontario Chapter, home page, read October 6, 2026
• ISA Prairie Chapter, home page, read October 6, 2026
• ISA Atlantic Chapter, home page, read October 6, 2026
• SIAQ, home page, read October 6, 2026
• NZ Arboricultural Association, working groups and liaisons, read October 6, 2026