Urban Forestry

Conclusions

By shear will and innovation, Canada has persevered in being a leader in urban forestry work. However, it still has a long way to go. Surveys of Canadian municipalities indicate that most do not have strategic urban forest plans in place.

Many do not even have effective inventories. Since the vast majority of the urban forest is situated on private land, the paucity of data on the resource as well as the lack of planning strategies for its protection and enhancement is much greater than illustrated by simply looking at the level of management by municipalities.

Urban forestry in Canada is, in effect, an entity of the local municipality. While organizations such as the International Society of Arboriculture promote the exchange of information among practitioners, no formal mechanism exists to ensure an effective, on-going exchange of information among municipalities. Except for some planting programs implemented through NGO groups such as the Tree Canada Foundation and efforts to deal with specific crises in the urban forest (i.e. emerald ash borer), the provincial and federal governments provide little leadership in urban forestry.

Urban forestry courses are provided at some universities such as the University of Toronto. However, insufficient attention is given to the training of professionals who can address the broad array of challenges meeting urban forest managers. Just as other professions play an important role in the management of wildland forests, professionals also have a role to play in urban forest management.