Urban forests: a connection through time

Weathering the storms – together

Trees represent a shared cultural history – and also strengthen a community’s identity. John Simmons is a retired urban forester who worked for the Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia for 34 years. He recalls that in 2003, Hurricane Juan ripped through the city with wind speeds of 160 kilometres an hour. Afterwards, 70% of trees in Halifax’s renowned 75 hectare Point Pleasant Park were gone. “People were emotional,” says Simmons. “They were teary-eyed as they came in.” The park was initially closed for safety reasons, but because the community was so devastated, Simmons and his team opened a path at the bottom of the park and let residents in to see for themselves the damage Juan had done. The municipality wanted citizens to be included and to understand why restoring the urban forest would take time. The team then dedicated themselves to restoring – and improving – Point Pleasant Park. Now, planting of strategically placed evergreen conifers and leafy deciduous trees has made the park more resilient in the face of extreme weather events. And Halifax residents can continue enjoy the beauty of this historic park, as they have for over 150 years.

Shaping the urban landscape

Across Canada, community residents are working together to create future urban legacies. One inspiring example of leadership and collaboration in urban forestry can be found in Montréal, Québec. In 2012, the municipality set a goal to increase its urban tree canopy from 20% to 25% by 2025. To help achieve this goal, 40 local and national corporations and community partners banded together to create the Alliance forêt urbaine, which has set its own target of planting 50,000 new trees and plants by 2022. The Alliance forêt urbaine organizes various initiatives around Montréal, tailored to local environments, which encourage and engage residents to participate in re-shaping their neighbourhoods. One such initiative offered urban-friendly trees at a discounted rate to encourage Montréal residents to increase the tree cover on their own properties. Through that campaign alone, more than 9,000 trees have already been planted and are now contributing to a greener future.

Inspiring the next generation of urban forest stewards

Several initiatives across Canada are designed to provide younger generations with the knowledge and passion to promote and protect their urban forests for the future. Dr. Stephen Sheppard works at the University of British Columbia (UBC) – the first university in Canada to offer an undergraduate degree in Urban Forestry. To teach Canadian youth about the importance of a green urban environment, Sheppard designed a video game called Future Delta 2.0. The video game is set in the real-life town of Delta, British Columbia, in 2100. Players must navigate a dystopian Delta ravaged with potential effects of climate change. “Hotspots” (localized heat islands) exist in areas without a healthy tree canopy, where drought and fire are real risks. Free to download, Future Delta 2.0 proved to be so popular that a second game, Our Future Community, is also being developed in collaboration with local high school teachers. Sheppard’s team hopes that the Future Delta 2.0 game will “motivate interest, learning, behaviour change and civic engagement” – much like the Citizen’s Coolkit on Climate Change & Urban Forestry. Also developed by UBC, the Coolkit helps local residents better understand the values of green spaces in the city (such as parks, streets and backyards). The guide also provides “a new way of reading and understanding landscape” in order to translate individual ideas into neighbourhood-wide actions.

Trees in our urban forests are the unbroken link between our past and our future. By preserving, protecting and promoting urban forestry, Canadian urban landscapes will continue to flourish and provide Canadians with benefits for generations to come.

Sources

• CBC. Video game simulates survival in a future Delta devastated by climate change. September 15, 2016.
• Forests Ontario.
• L’Alliance forêt urbaine. (in French only).
• LEAF – Local Enhancement & Appreciation of Forests. Recognizing a little piece of Toronto’s past. November 7, 2013.
• Montreal Gazette. Opinion: Montreal shows the rest of Canada how to save urban trees. July 18, 2018.
• Projet Montréal. Urban canopy: Montreal has only planted 24 % of the trees planned. April 20, 2017.
• The Coast. Halifax’s forest guardian. August 9, 2018.
• The University of British Columbia. Future Delta 2.0 – Climate Change Video Game.
• The University of British Columbia. Citizen’s Coolkit on Climate Change & Urban Forestry.
• Tourism Nova Scotia. Point Pleasant Park.

Photo credits

• Child connecting with nature. Photo by stockstudioX/iStock by Getty Images.
• Autumn Colors in Montreal City. Photo by buzbuzzer/iStock by Getty Images.
• Photo of video game courtesy of Collaborative for Advanced Landscape Planning at the University of British Columbia.