[4] As of 26 August 2005, the Australian Government reclassified Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest as a "Critically Endangered Ecological Community", under the Commonwealth's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Its range does not extend to drier Cumberland Plain Woodland, or high-rainfall ridges (where it meets with Blue Gum High Forest, also endangered), or areas with less fertile, sandy soil.

[7] The main canopy trees in this forest community are Turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera, can grow over 30 metres high), and a number of different species of Ironbark, which vary depending on local environmental conditions.

The most substantial undisturbed area is the Wallumatta Nature Reserve on the corner of Twin and Cressy roads North Ryde, which is owned and managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

[23] Outside these few remaining areas, scattered fragments of Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest have been identified in the local government areas of Ashfield, Auburn, Canterbury, Concord, Drummoyne, Leichhardt, Marrickville, Bankstown, Ryde (Darvall Park and Brush Farm Park),[24] Hunters Hill, Baulkham Hills, Ku-ring-gai (Sheldon Forest), Hornsby, Parramatta, Bankstown, Rockdale, Kogarah, Hurstville, and Sutherland.

The council's website also encourages local residents in appropriate areas to choose trees, shrubs and ground covers indigenous to the Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest.