Climate Action Council

Urban Forestry

Growing Together: A Tree Equity Q&A Session

City of Toronto and City of Ottawa have each adopted a tree equity approach to address the unequal distribution of urban canopy in their cities. Both cities are working to identify and prioritize areas of tree inequity, focusing tree planting efforts where they are needed most. In this session, staff from City of Toronto and City of Ottawa answered your questions regarding their approaches and the challenges so far.

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Protecting Natural Heritage Through Ecological Offsetting: City of Barrie’s Ecological Offsetting Policy

Urban growth and development put municipal natural heritage features at risk. To address the removal of trees and woodland area for development purposes, the City of Barrie has implemented an Ecological Offsetting Policy that establishes a consistent approach to maintaining a minimum No Net Loss of terrestrial natural heritage.

In this webinar, David Featherstone, Terrestrial Ecologist with City of Barrie, discussed the Policy’s development and implementation, and share key transferrable insights for municipalities.

Additional Resources

If you would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org

Town of Pelham’s Natural Asset Management Plan

The Town of Pelham has completed a Municipal Natural Asset Management Plan (MNAMP) to enhance its understanding, evaluation, and management of natural assets. This project, supported by a grant from the Greenbelt Foundation and in partnership with the Natural Asset Initiative, identified and inventoried over 4,000 natural assets. The project assessed the current condition of these assets, the services they provide, and estimated their value at approximately $600,000,000, primarily in stormwater management services.

In this webinar, Michelle Molnar, Technical Director with Natural Assets Initiative, provided an overview of natural asset management. Shannon Larocque, Manager of Planning, and Samantha Witkowski, Environmental Coordinator from the Town of Pelham, discussed the development process of the MNAMP and presented key recommendations for managing the Town’s natural assets moving forward.

Additional Resources

If you would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org

Promoting Equity in Urban Forestry: City of Ottawa’s Tree Equity Analysis

Urban tree canopy distribution often mirrors socio-economic inequalities, with neighbourhoods with lower canopy coverage typically home to equity-deserving communities. To support equitable access to the urban forest canopy, the City of Ottawa will conduct a tree equity analysis and use its findings to prioritize tree planting under the City’s Tree Planting Strategy. In this webinar, Martha Copestake and Zoe Bedford from the City of Ottawa discussed Ottawa’s approach to addressing tree inequity.

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Climate Integration into Urban Forestry and Stormwater Plans

In this meeting, a team of University of Toronto students who have worked with CAP in the last few months summarized their research on the main practices of climate integration in Urban Forestry and Stormwater Plans. In the second half of the meeting, we heard from Jade Schofield from Ontario Urban Forest Council, OUFC on their latest research on synergies between Urban Forestry Management and Climate Action Plans.

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For a copy of the slide decks, please email cap@cleanairpartnership.org