The city’s tree canopy is set for a big growth spurt.
City council unanimously approved a plan Tuesday that calls for the planting of 3.68 million new trees in the next 46 years, with an estimated annual cost of $3.6 million.
The plan includes 42 action items, including building tree canopy targets into development and site plan guidelines for city properties, along with improved planting standards for all developments and city infrastructure projects.
The city’s stated goal was to achieve a 40 per cent tree canopy coverage by 2031, but the council-approved plan pushes that back to 2070. In order to achieve that target, 3.68 million new trees are needed.
As noted in a staff report to council, just shy of 1,500 hectares of land is needed to accommodate that many new trees.
A 40 per cent canopy would “maximize the social, environmental, and economic benefits derived from trees,” the report explains.
Other action items in the plan include tracking the number of new trees planted; launching a comprehensive review of the tree canopy; building on or establishing relationships with places of worship, schools and private businesses to promote tree-planting on their properties; developing a public tree stewardship campaign; and creating grant programs for private property owners.
The annual cost of the action items is estimated at $3.6 million, which is $2.9 million more than the $687,000 per year spent now on new tree plantings and maintenance.
Councillors Dan Gibson and Leanne Caron were absent from Tuesday’s council meeting.
