Greening of Vancouver `ambitious' but doable
Metro aiming to expand tree canopy to 40%
Metro Vancouver wants 40 per cent of the region's urban areas to be shaded by trees by 2050, a target the regional authority called “ambitious but achievable.”
That represents an increase from the current tree canopy, which currently averages 32 per cent, according to a draft of a paper submitted to the Metro Vancouver Regional District board Wednesday. The paper is part of a regional road map to address climate change.
“Protecting, restoring and enhancing nature and ecosystems maximizes their ability to provide climate resiliency benefits to the region,” the authors wrote.
Amelia Needoba, principal and senior forester at Diamond Head Consulting, which has completed work for Metro Vancouver in the past, said in an email that “both 30 per cent and 40 per cent have been put forward as best practices” for tree canopy cover.
“Several cities in the Pacific Northwest have set canopy cover targets of 30 per cent,” she wrote, while “quite a few cities in the Toronto region” have targets of 40 per cent.
Only a handful of Metro municipalities — including Lions Bay, West Vancouver and UBC — meet or exceed the current 32 per cent average, according to the most recent regional data, which dates back 2014.
Several municipalities have begun implementing strategies to increase tree coverage since then, including tree planting, restrictions on tree removal, and requirements and incentives to plant new trees on private property.
Trees provide a range of benefits to cities and their residents, including shading and cooling, carbon storage, stormwater management and homes for wildlife. A significant proportion of the nearly 600 people who died in B.C.'s heat wave last summer lived in neighbourhoods with limited or low tree canopy.
There is increasing evidence that trees and other greenspaces offer significant health and well-being benefits, as well, including reduced deaths from cardiovascular disease and improved mental health outcomes.
“In the long run, the community and our health-care system pays the price for hot urban areas with low biodiversity and less access to nature,” Needoba wrote.