Along with consultant Diamond Head, the City of Parksville is developing an urban forest strategy.
The strategy will involve a comprehensive document that will provide baseline information about the state of the Parksville’s urban forest, develop a long-term vision and adopt tangible goals for management and growth of the area’s urban forest.
This strategy is necessary to help preserve the urban forest, establish acceptable canopy coverage and forest health targets, and achieve tangible goals while managing challenges.
Detailed info about the strategy is available on ‘Let’s Talk Parksville,’ the city’s public engagement platform, at www.letstalkparksville.ca. Residents are encouraged to participate in a survey to help shape the urban forest vision and strategic directions. The survey will be open until Oct. 22, 2021, and accessible from ‘Let’s Talk Parksville.’ The completion of the strategy is targeted for March 2022.
Parksville’s urban forest includes all trees, vegetation and soil spanning parks, streets, existing forests and other ecosystems, agriculture lands, and private property.
READ MORE: Parks department asks Parksville city council for $150K to manage dying Western Red Cedars
The urban forest is a community resource integral to the character of the city. Trees are living assets that provide numerous benefits to the community such as capturing rainwater, cleaning air, shading, and cooling streets and buildings, promoting economic growth by attracting tourism, and reducing energy use costs including heating and cooling.
The increase in the number of western red cedars throughout the city is a prime example of the impacts of warmer, drier summers affecting the health and species composition of our native forests.
The city’s resources have been stretched to manage the volume of dead, dying and high-risk trees.
– NEWS Staff, submitted