Opinion | Trees are vital to the city’s climate change fight. So why are they on the decline?

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Trees are vital to the city’s climate change fight. So why are they on the decline? Between 2008 and 2018, the city spent tens of millions of dollars and by some measures has not increased the tree canopy. Opinion by GraphicMatt

, a professor of Urban Forestry at UBC, the plan promises to ensure every Toronto resident has three things that can offer significant public health and environmental benefits. First, at least three trees should be visible from your home. Second, the tree canopy in every neighbourhood should cover at least 30 per cent of land. Third, you should be no more than 300 metres from the nearest public park or green space.

Toronto city council, to its credit, has twigged to this. In 2013, council adopted a target to increase Toronto’s overall tree canopy to 40 per cent by 2050, recognizing trees are a vital part of achieving the city’s TransformTO net zero environmental goals., annual spending on urban forestry grew from $31.1 million in 2008 to $68.7 million in 2018. That investment, the city says, brought tree canopy coverage from somewhere between 26.6 per cent and 28 per cent in 2008, to somewhere between 28.

But there are also lots of factors that the city can control. For instance, the city still struggles to grow healthy trees planted along sidewalks. They’re often not given enough room to grow, and don’t receive enough attention. According to the city’s, the number of trees in the city declined by about 720 trees since last fall.

 

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GraphicMatt Interesting. Millions spent (supposedly) to plant trees. No increase in tree population. Millions spent on the homeless problem. Homeless problem has increased. What does the city do well?

GraphicMatt Not addressed in Matt's otherwise excellent piece is the fact that many of the old trees in older neighbourhoods are reaching the end of their lives and presenting hazards that require them to be taken down. Especially the silver and Norway maples.

GraphicMatt what could it possibly be

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