250 free trees up for grabs as Vancouver looks to expand urban forest, address canopy inequality

A Vancouver property lined with trees is seen in this CTV News file photo.

Vancouver’s park board is giving away 250 trees in a city-wide effort to grow the city’s urban forest.

As of Monday, residents living in the Sunset and Victoria-Fraserview neighbourhoods can register for Branch Out, a new pilot program that aims to deliver trees to historically underserved areas with less than 15 per cent canopy cover.

The park board says eligibility will be determined through a questionnaire, with trees set to be delivered to the 250 selected residents in March when the ground is optimal for planting.

Six tree varieties are available, including plum, fig, spruce, lilac, musclewood and ginko.

“Planting and caring for trees on their property is one of the most important things a person can do to help support their community and environment through weather extremes; bringing shade in the summer and providing wind-breaks in winter,” Joe McLeod the park board’s manager of urban forestry, wrote in a statement Monday.

Vancouver’s Urban Forestry Strategy, which was adopted in 2018, includes increasing the city’s urban canopy cover from 23 per cent to 30 by 2050.

According to the city’s website, private property represents 57 per cent of Vancouver’s land area and has an average canopy cover of 12 per cent.

WHY TREE COVERAGE IS IMPORTANT

A recent Nature Canada report highlights that urban forests are crucial for biodiversity and reduce the impact of species-specific pests and disease.

In the context of climate change, research shows canopy cover helps prevent flooding by intercepting rain, provides shade and cool temperatures on hot days, and improves the quality of air.

“Research on 86 Canadian cities found that the urban forest removed 16,500 tonnes of air pollution in 2010, translating into $227 million worth of human health benefits,” Nature Canada wrote in its “Bringing the Canopy to All” report.

The study highlights how urban forests can also improve mental health challenges like depression, anxiety, stress and ADHD, while improving sleep and strengthening the immune system.

Following the province’s deadly heat dome in the summer of 2021, Dr. Sarah Henderson, the scientific director of environmental services at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, highlighted the value of green spaces.

“We know that mature trees can protect from excessive heat. In fact an increase of five percent in the tree canopy within a 100 metre radius decreased the risk of death during the heat dome by about 10 per cent,” Henderson wrote in a blog post last July.

ADDRESSING INEQUALITIES

Nature Canada also highlighted in its report how people living in racialized and marginalized neighbourhoods typically have the least access to urban trees and forests compares to their affluent counterparts.

To address tree inequality, the City of Vancouver is targeting “equity initiative zones,” or areas with low access to park space, higher demand for low-barrier recreation services, as well as those with less robust urban forest.

Cecil Konijnendijk, an urban forestry professor at the University of British Columbia, coined the 3-30-300 rule, which Nature Canada supported in its report.

By that metric, everyone should be able to see at least three trees from their home, communities should ensure a 30 per cent canopy growth in all neighbourhoods, and all residents should have a greenspace of at least one hectare within 300 metres of where they’re living.

Residents wishing to take part in Branch Out are being reminded that trees are a long term investment that require watering, trimming and mulching. For people who don’t own their low-canopy property, a landlord’s permission to plant a tree is required.