New Westminster ramps up plans to plant 12,000 trees by 2030 to guard against climate emergencies

A city in Metro Vancouver at high risk of being affected by climate emergencies such as extreme heat and flooding is moving fast on an ambitious goal to plant thousands of trees as a mitigation tool.

"We are quite vulnerable," said Erika Mashig, manager of parks and open space planning, design and construction for New Westminster.

"We've had a number of deaths related to the heat wave but I know the city … has really stepped up."

After coming up with an ambitious tree planting goal in 2019, to plant nearly 12,000 new trees across the 15-square-kilometre municipality, it has ramped up planting, with financial support from the federal and provincial governments.

In 2021, 650 trees went in the ground, an improvement from the 500 planted in the previous year.

For decades the amount of tree canopy — or the amount of ground covered by leaves or tree limbs as seen from above — has been in decline across Metro Vancouver cities due mostly to development.

The abundance of trees in and around homes, buildings and roads has been shown to keep cities cooler, improve air quality, reduce flooding and improve the well-being of residents.

In September 2020, the City of Vancouver, which is nearly 115 square kilometres in size, met a 10-year tree planting goal to try to raise its tree canopy to 22 per cent from 18 per cent.

New Westminster wants to bring its tree canopy cover from 18 per cent to 27 per cent by planting 11,800 trees by 2030.

"We have a very ambitious tree canopy goal of 27 per cent," said Mashig. "We expedited [the planting] from 2035 to 2030."

Stephen Sheppard, a professor emeritus of urban forestry at the University of British Columbia, commends cities like New Westminster that are taking strides to improve canopy covers, but hopes coverage can go even higher. Some cities in the United States are aiming for 40 per cent, he said.

"And that's the level where you get the kind of optimal cooling and ecological services."

City also needs to engage residents

Working against New Westminster however is how the city has been built over its history.

According to a report from Metro Vancouver in 2019, New Westminster has one of the highest percentages of paved-over areas in the region.

It said 68 per cent of the city is covered in so-called impervious surfaces, which are a marker of urbanization. More paved spaces in cities correlates to fewer trees, increased temperatures and danger of localized flooding.

"I think with New Westminster it's going to be a challenge because it is a small city, it's got steep slopes," said Sheppard about finding spaces to put the trees where they will flourish.

He said it will be important for the city to engage citizens to plant trees on private land, such as their yards, and help make sure the trees planted thrive by looking after them.

Mashig said while the majority of the 11,800 trees needed to meet its canopy goal will be planted on streets, boulevards, parks and open spaces, 3,300 are needed on private land.

The city sells discounted trees twice a year to residents, which has resulted in about 300 trees being planted in yards or even in pots on patios or balconies each year.

"I think there's an appetite to feel that you're doing something," said Mashig about the city's community engagement around tree planting, which also includes mass planting events and an adopt-a-tree program.

In June of 2021, New Westminster got a boost to its program by applying for and receiving $1.78 million in provincial and federal funding for improving green infrastructure. It will be used to plant 2,200 new trees in parks and open spaces by the end of 2023.