Hamilton is in a tree canopy crisis
The city should make planting in public open spaces a priority
With humanity facing a climate crisis, the worldwide support for tree planting has never been higher.
Sadly, here in Hamilton city staff are supporting outdated policies that actually block the planting of trees in our parks, despite universal support for more trees by council and residents.
City staff are ignoring their very own urban forest canopy study (UFS) and are refusing to plant significant numbers of trees in our parks. The Parks Department prefers “open space,” by which they mean grassed areas. We need a new policy which makes trees a priority, and equally important, clear direction from council to force staff to follow it.
My recommendation to council regarding a new policy is that the Forestry Department be given priority in management of our parks. The Parks Department should continue to plan, build and maintain playgrounds and playing fields. The rest of the park should be given to forestry, with the mandate to plant as many trees as possible while providing access and enjoyment for all.
The 1,416 hectares (3,500 acres) of parks are essentially an urban greenbelt, and we know how much Hamiltonians value Ontario’s Greenbelt and nature.
The recently completed UFS identified 526 hectares (1,300 acres) of open space that could be planted with trees, and noted 95 per cent of respondents to their studies listed trees in the parks as their No. 1 priority.
According to the University of Georgia, Warnell School of Forestry, if we planted trees an average of 10 feet apart we could plant 436 trees per acre. This would total 566,000 trees in the 1,300 acres of open space. With modern concepts such as the Miyakawi Method micro-forest, we could add perhaps hundreds of thousands more.
The Parks Department is adamant that we have maxed out our planting capacity for trees. Clearly this is not remotely true. The next time you are driving or walking around Hamilton, take a look at your neighbourhood park and ask yourself: Are there large open spaces of grassy areas that could accommodate many more trees?
I’m not talking about playing fields and playgrounds which are essential parts of a community, I’m talking about the nonspecific grassy areas that have to be mowed by fossil-fuel burning equipment.
This division of land should take place immediately so tree planting can begin right away. Under the current policy, it takes between five and 10 years before trees are planted. I was told by staff that “trees are the last thing we would put in a park.” They are only planted after all other construction is completed. With consultations, design, revisions, tendering of contracts, budgeting, planning and construction, this takes years.
How bad is the situation currently? On June 21 last year, council approved the UFS final report and mandated staff to increase the canopy to 40 per cent by 2050. The report states the current policies have resulted in a decrease in the urban canopy from 22.1 per cent to 21 per cent from 2000 to 2017, despite planting 10,000 trees per year. This is not even enough to replace dead trees.
The canopy includes unspoiled forested areas such as the escarpment face, and tree friendly Wards 13 (Dundas) at 40 per cent, Ward 1 (Westdale) at 32 per cent, Ward 12 (Ancaster) at 28 per cent and Ward 5, which includes the Red Hill Valley at 27 per cent. On the mountain the story is much different, with current levels as low as eight per cent (Ward 8); and 14 per cent (Wards 6 and 7). We have a canopy crisis.
There are five million trees in Hamilton that make up our 21 per cent canopy. To double the canopy would require an additional five million trees, not accounting for the annual loss of dead trees.
The current Parks Department goal is 20,000 trees per year. At this rate, it would take 250 years to plant five million trees.
I discovered this disturbing state of affairs in 2022 when I was part of a local citizen’s committee charged with representing the wishes of local residents for the development of a new multi-acre area of Vincent Massey Park on Macassa Road.
In public meetings with residents, Coun. Esther Pauls and department heads of Parks, Forestry, and Landscape Services, we were told that there would be no construction projects since we already had a playground and paved sports court in the existing park area. We were told we could have “unlimited numbers of trees,” however.
After several on-site and virtual meetings and many emails we agreed to a multi-stage plan to add hundreds of trees to the open space, which was once a school and playground. We were provided drawings showing a first phase of 40 trees to infill around existing mature trees. This was to be done in 2023.
In the spring of 2023, however, Parks rescinded the offer and said it had all been a mistake. Nothing could be done without several years of planning and new meetings. They suggested a start date for meetings in 2025. With a commitment to fighting climate change we could have had 300 to 500 trees planted and growing by now, with thousands more in the next few years.
I presented a petition requesting the city proceed with the 40 trees, signed by every resident whose home faced the park, but this was rejected as not relevant by city staff.
The current Parks policy is not aligned with council’s approval of the city’s Urban Forest Strategy and the declaration of a climate emergency and climate lens. When I asked staff if Parks had changed its policies since the climate motions, I was told it has not. My concerns have been forwarded to two higher levels of Public Works and Environmental Services and the response has been the same. They see no need for change.
In addition to delays, the trees the city does plant are largely along the periphery, in rows and spaced such that they will not create a canopy for 40 to 50 years, if ever.
It is time for a change. Contact your councillor and voice your concern for more trees in our parks.
LEE FAIRBANKS HAS A LONG HISTORY OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT. HE NEGOTIATED THE CITY’S FIRST NON-SMOKING BYLAW AS PRESIDENT OF THE HAMILTON COUNCIL ON SMOKING AND HELPED CONVINCE COUNCIL TO REVERSE ITS DECISION NOT TO PURCHASE THE FORMER DUNDAS DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL PLAYING FIELD — NOW FISHER’S MILL PARK — AS A BOARD MEMBER OF DUNDAS YOUTH SOCCER.