Urban Forestry Canopy Expansion Program

Trees are an important part of the quality of life in Calgary. Trees provide a variety of environmental benefits, contribute to positive mental wellbeing and enhance connectivity within communities. Calgary Parks has a mandate to increase Calgary’s tree canopy to 16%. We will reach that target by planting new trees that are suitable to our environment, maintaining our existing canopy for good health, protecting the existing canopy from loss, and advocating for more trees on private lands. Calgary’s tree canopy coverage is currently 8.25%, this includes trees planted on both public and private property.

Urban Forestry is collaborating with City business units to find a cost-effective way to achieve tree canopy growth over time by investing in tree seedling plantings. Through a partnership with the City of Calgary Roads Department and Parks Urban Conservation, potential planting sites have been identified throughout the City. These roadside sites are currently low maintenance, semi naturalized, and have no plans for expansion or interchange development for at least the next decade. Sites may be planted with a single planting event or have multiple planting events over several seasons.

Tree seedling plantings have many advantages including:

• 1-2-year-old seedlings are grown from native seed stock sourced throughout Alberta.

• Native material sourced and propagated in Alberta will greatly increase the likelihood of tree establishment and success.

• Native tree material requires less maintenance and watering and is more resilient to insect and disease outbreaks.

• Self-thinning of stands occurs naturally over time.

• Stands support local biodiversity.

A typical street/park tree costs approximately $1,000 to plant and water until establishment, while each seedling is less than $5. Site plans will be developed in the fall and finalized plans will be communicated to Community Associations and Councilor Offices in the early spring. Communities can provide input for sites during the planning process by contacting 311.

The deadline for site input is October 31st for the following planting season. The 2020 plans are complete, and planting will begin in late May.

The communities with planting sites are listed on the next page. For more information about Calgary’s Urban Forest, please visit Calgary.ca/trees. We will provide updates to all Ward 9 Communities when the consultation is live.

2020 Canopy Expansion Communities Partnered Urban Forestry & City of Calgary Roads Dept. Sites:

• Cityscape

• Dalhousie

• Edgemont

• Hamptons

• Hidden Valley

• Manchester Industrial

• McEwan

• Montgomery

• Red Stone

• Skyview Ranch

• Strathcona

• Varsity

Westwinds Partnered Urban Forestry & Urban Conservation Sites:

• Aspen Woods

• Beltline

• Bridgeland

• Discovery Ridge

• Inglewood

• Ogden

• Silver Springs

• Wildwood