Photo by Frances Litman
Our group – Community Trees Matter Network – came together because each one of us is extremely concerned about the continuing loss of mature trees in our city.
Our network is growing steadily, because so many people share that concern.
Trees perform important eco-services, such as creating oxygen, cooling the air during our increasingly long, hot summers, reducing stormwater, and most importantly, they store carbon.
Big trees store a lot more carbon than saplings do. Big trees do more of everything on that list than saplings do.
Trees are also beautiful, inspiring, and studies have shown that just being around them can improve our mental health, sense of well-being, and our physical health.
Most of our members do not oppose development. But we want to see respectful development, that plans from the beginning to retain as many mature trees as possible. We want to see a city hall that shares that vision.
As Victoria transitions to a more densely populated city, we need to make sure we retain as many mature healthy trees as possible, and plant many more.
More people will need the higher quality of life that trees give us.
Planting trees and saving mature trees are two things we can do that have a real effect in helping to slow down climate change.
1) Most importantly, we would like the city of Victoria to make it clear this is a city where trees matter. And that there will be consequences for those who do not protect trees.
We would like to see every department, from planning to parks to city works, and every contractor with the city, to understand and honour that.
2) We would like the planning department to make it a priority to make recommendations that will save mature trees, and to streamline the process so builders are encouraged to save trees and rewarded for doing so.
3) Protect trees starting at a smaller size, e.g. 20 cm instead of 80 cm. That way, more will eventually reach 80 cm.
4) We would like to see a large increase in the numbers of trees the city plants each year.
Victoria’s tree canopy must have fallen well below the 18% reported in 2011. Every time a large mature tree is cut down and ‘replaced’ with one or two saplings, the canopy is thinned and reduced in area. We are not looking for a new land cover map. We would rather see the money put into tree planting and increasing the health of our current trees.
On top of that, we understand many of Victoria’s street trees are nearing the end of their lifespan. There should be an increase in tree-planting in anticipation of this.
Additionally, more trees are dying, due to our now-common long summer droughts, which reduce trees’ resistance to disease. Increasing the canopy to 30% would be a worthwhile target that would increase residents’ health and strengthen stormwater drainage, soil retention, oxygen production, etc.
Trees are a public health issue. Trees clean and cool the air, and create oxygen, as well as decrease carbon dioxide. Some people died during our smoky summers because of the poor air quality. There is less asthma in well-treed neighbourhoods. We need more trees, and we need them now, not in several decades. We need to keep our streets and neighbourhoods cooler in our hotter summers. People are also more stressed by the heat, and elderly and vulnerable people can and do die from heat.
5) Increase permit fees, especially for developments.
When developers cut down trees, which have been contributing to the public good, the community should be adequately reimbursed for that loss of carbon storing, cooling, stormwater management, soil protection and oxygen production. How about $2,000 per tree? This is the value given to each tree, mentioned in the UFMP.
6) Increase fines for damaging or killing trees without a permit, and enforce the fines.
We liked the City of Cambridge’s schedule for fines, which includes: “where the person convicted of an offense is a corporation”, a fine of not more than $50,000 per tree, up to $100,000 is permitted.”
Please post signs beside trees during construction that tell the public what the protection plan is, and where to call if the plan isn’t being followed. Not only will this help to keep developers on their toes, but it also makes it clear to everyone that in Victoria, trees matter.
7) We strongly encourage the city to improve the health of the trees we already have.
Vancouver advertises to ask residents to water trees in the summer. Why can’t Victoria do the same?
Vancouver also uses volunteers in parks. So do Esquimalt and Oak Bay.
Much more could be done to improve the health of our trees, such as pulling out invasive species, checking for suffocated root flares and girdling roots, and adding bark mulch around trees to provide nutrients and retain moisture through the dry season. Many of these things could be done by volunteers, supervised by staff.
8) We encourage the city to acquire well-treed properties that come up for sale.
Properties such as 1201 Fort Street, which had over 50 trees when it went on the market, should be bought by the city. These properties could either be used as mini-parks, and carbon-storing oases where even more trees could be planted, and perhaps community gardens installed. Or the trees could be covenanted, and the property re-sold.
We can expect a continued pressure to cut down mature trees to make way for development. At this rate, we are losing substantial numbers of trees which perform essential eco-services for the community. Establishing additional small parks/tree oases is one small way we could begin to offset this loss.
With some advertising and reaching out to other levels of government, we believe others would consider donating money towards creating this fund.
9) Heritage trees and significant trees
Victoria is allowing some of its most historic trees to be cut down. By the following definition, the sequoia and other historic trees at 1201 Fort Street should have been saved. We would like to see protection of heritage trees and significant trees written into the bylaw, and acted upon, before they’re all gone.
According to Aird and Trees Ontario, a heritage tree is:
- A notable specimen because of its size, form, shape, beauty, age, colour, rarity, genetic constitution, or other distinctive features;
- A living relic that displays evidence of cultural modification by Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal people, including strips of bark or knot-gree wood removed, test hole cut to determine soundness, furrows cut to collect pitch or sap, or blazes to mark a trail;
- A prominent community landmark;
- A specimen associated with a historic person, place, event or period;
- A representative of a crop grown by ancestors and their successors that is at risk of disappearing from cultivation;
- A tree associated with local folklore, myths, legends, or traditions.
10) Thirty-metre forest buffers are considered the best protection for streams. We would like to see the city of Victoria working towards purchasing land, and/or negotiating with property owners, to plant more trees and biodiverse plants around Cecelia Creek. Forest buffers help to clean the water – an important consideration now that public swimming is being encouraged in the Gorge.
11) We ask that the city educate itself about the possibility of using phytoremediation – the use of trees and plants to clean toxins from soil. This is an option we believe could have been used at Ogden Point. It would have been much less costly than removing all the trees and soils, and far less disruptive to the neighbourhood. It might also have resulted in less negative impacts to the harbour.
12) We ask that the City consider its trees as a valuable part of the city’s green infrastructure. Consideration for trees and their needs should be integrated into the management of the city’s other assets and services. Workers in other areas should be educated about how to protect and preserve trees. For instance, if digging needs to be done on a treed street, can it be done outside the critical root zone, instead of inside it?
13) Incentives and education could be used to encourage property owners to plant more trees, such as stormwater utility fees, and information about how trees and tree canopies reduce rainwater runoff. The public could also be informed about the use of trees, green roofs and green walls to reduce the costs of heating and cooling homes. Trees could also be offered for sale to the public at reduced rates to encourage more planting.