[CANUFNET] Urban Trees Are Infrastructure - Natural Capital Assets

Fri Feb 19 17:41:00 EST 2021

Ontario’s use of the term ‘green infrastructure’ is interesting.

Starting in 2014, the provincial policy statement (including the one Jack referenced below) offers the following definition: “Green infrastructure:  means natural and human-made elements that provide ecological and hydrological functions and processes. Green infrastructure can include components such as natural heritage features and systems, parklands, stormwater management systems, street trees, urban forests, natural channels, permeable surfaces, and green roofs.” The same definition appears in the 2017 updated Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and Greenbelt Plan. In all documents green infrastructure in then discussed.  For example,  in the PPS section 1.6.2 “Planning authorities should promote green infrastructure to complement infrastructure”.

The non-longer applicable 2016 Climate Change Strategy states: “Green infrastructure is inter-connected networks of green open spaces that provide a wide range of ecosystem services”.  So, same Liberal Government as the 2014 definition, but a bit different in focus. I read it as urban forests are still included, probably.

The A Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan (2018)  states: “Support green infrastructure projects…[to] lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduce
pollution, and help make community infrastructure more resilient. Example investments could include improvements to transit and transportation infrastructure and improved local water, wastewater and stormwater systems” (pg 38). It is unclear to me if this includes urban trees/urban forests, or is aligning itself with the Government of Canada use of green infrastructure definition which tends to focus on electric vehicles, clean energy, and energy-efficient buildings (https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/climate-change/green-infrastructure-programs/19780).  And other provincial governments have at least initially adopted this “greening” gray infrastructure idea.

More recently the Government of Canada has talked about natural infrastructure and nature-based solutions, among other terms, that seem to capture the ideas in the PPS’ GI definition and follows the terminology shift that is happening in the EU, and elsewhere.

Tenley

Tenley

From: Jack Radecki <jackandali at sympatico.ca>
Sent: February 19, 2021 5:17 PM
To: 'Canadian Urban Forest Network' <canufnet at list.web.net>
Cc: Tenley Conway <tenley.conway at utoronto.ca>
Subject: RE: [CANUFNET] Urban Trees Are Infrastructure - Natural Capital Assets

EXTERNAL EMAIL:
https://files.ontario.ca/mmah-provincial-policy-statement-2020-accessible-final-en-2020-02-14.pdf

Let’s look at Ontario’s Provincial Policy Statement. Can anyone find the word trees or the term Urban Forests?
If you find it let me know? I made a submission for the 2005 version asking for the inclusions.

Jack Radecki

From: CANUFNET <canufnet-bounces at list.web.net<mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net>> On Behalf Of Tenley Conway via CANUFNET
Sent: February 19, 2021 2:11 PM
To: Canadian Urban Forest Network <canufnet at list.web.net<mailto:canufnet at list.web.net>>
Cc: Tenley Conway <tenley.conway at utoronto.ca<mailto:tenley.conway at utoronto.ca>>
Subject: Re: [CANUFNET] Urban Trees Are Infrastructure - Natural Capital Assets

I think we also need to recognize that how the term green infrastructure (or Canada’s ‘natural’ infrastructure) is regularly used is different than whether it is an effective conceptualization that will help achieve urban tree/forest goals, including providing new funding opportunities  (although I am in favor of tress as GI, as well).

Ian Mell’s book Global green infrastructure: lessons for successful policy-making, investment and management (2016) has several introductory chapters identifying the multiple origins of the term green infrastructure, which had led to the varied understandings of it that we have today.  While the US EPA’s stormwater definition is dominant in the US, in Europe green infrastructure is typically considered networks of connected green space that provide multiple ecosystem services and support biodiversity, and increasingly is broadly discussed as a process for strategic landscape planning.  My research on Canada (primarily focused on Ontario)  is that different definitions are used within and between different governments/municipalities, although trees are often front and center.

Finally, the US EPA definition includes trees and other vegetation, with city’s like Philadelphia planting trees as part of their green infrastructure initiative to address EPA stormwater requirements.

Tenley

Tenley Conway | Professor and Associate Chair-Research
Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment| University of Toronto- Mississauga
3359 Mississauga Rd, Mississauga, ON Canada L5L 1C6
http://sites.utm.utoronto.ca/conway/

Associate Editor | Urban Forestry and Urban Greening<https://www.journals.elsevier.com/urban-forestry-and-urban-greening>

From: CANUFNET <canufnet-bounces at list.web.net<mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net>> On Behalf Of Ian Wilson via CANUFNET
Sent: February 19, 2021 1:22 PM
To: Canadian Urban Forest Network <canufnet at list.web.net<mailto:canufnet at list.web.net>>
Cc: Ian Wilson <IWilson at kelowna.ca<mailto:IWilson at kelowna.ca>>
Subject: Re: [CANUFNET] Urban Trees Are Infrastructure - Natural Capital Assets

EXTERNAL EMAIL:
I’m in agreement with Alex on this. While cities also benefit from “natural capital” such as intact watersheds that provide clean water, there’s a lot of “green infrastructure” being installed and maintained to provide benefits such as storm water management. This includes trees, bioswales and other vegetation. It’s installed and maintained just like other infrastructure.

Ian Wilson
City of Kelowna

From: CANUFNET <canufnet-bounces at list.web.net<mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net>> On Behalf Of Alex Satel via CANUFNET
Sent: February 19, 2021 9:41 AM
To: Canadian Urban Forest Network <canufnet at list.web.net<mailto:canufnet at list.web.net>>
Cc: Alex Satel <asatel at ufis.ca<mailto:asatel at ufis.ca>>
Subject: Re: [CANUFNET] Urban Trees Are Infrastructure - Natural Capital Assets

CAUTION: External email - Check before you click!

Naomi,

With respect – it is my humble opinion, and one that I know is shared by many, that trees and urban forests in fact are infrastructure. I suspect your comment might ruffle more than a few feathers in the Canadian urban forestry community, many members of which have been working long and hard for our urban forests to be recognized precisely as such. I would argue that the distinction of whether something is a human physical construct or not is an arbitrary and outmoded way to define infrastructure – what counts is why and how those assets are managed for the services they provide to communities and the environment.

While neither your citation nor mine are from Manitoba—the home of Trees Please Winnipeg—it may be of interest to you to note that Ontario Regulation O. Reg. 588/17: Asset Management Planning for Municipal Infrastructure under the Infrastructure for Jobs and Prosperity Act, 2015, S.O. 2015, c. 15 defines a green infrastructure asset as:

“an infrastructure asset consisting of natural or human-made elements that provide ecological and hydrological functions and processes and includes natural heritage features and systems, parklands, stormwater management systems, street trees, urban forests, natural channels, permeable surfaces and green roofs.”

Perhaps Manitoba has similar legislation—that I don’t know. Regardless, the whole objective is to recognize trees and urban forests as the vital community infrastructure assets they are so that they will be managed using some of the same principles and approaches as more “traditional” human-constructed municipal infrastructure . In fact, the above-cited regulation compels Ontario municipalities to do just that by 2023, and with very good reason.

For a great example of the application of infrastructure asset management principles to urban forest infrastructure assets, refer to York Region’s Green Asset Management Plan, and to the Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition’s Urban Forest Asset Management Primer here<https://greeninfrastructureontario.org/app/uploads/2016/06/UF-Toolkit-Part-2-Asset-Management-Primer-Final.pdf>.

With kind regards,

Alex

Alexander Satel, MFC
Urban forestry and arboricultural consultant
ISA Certified Arborist ON-1353A
ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified (TRAQ)

Urban Forest Innovations, Inc.
1331 Northaven Drive
Mississauga, ON L5G 4E8
T: (905) 274-1022
asatel at ufis.ca<mailto:asatel at ufis.ca>
urbanforestinnovations.com

From: CANUFNET <canufnet-bounces at list.web.net<mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net>> On Behalf Of Naomi Zurcher via CANUFNET
Sent: February 19, 2021 12:18 PM
To: Canadian Urban Forest Network <canufnet at list.web.net<mailto:canufnet at list.web.net>>
Cc: Naomi Zurcher <treerap at sprintmail.com<mailto:treerap at sprintmail.com>>
Subject: Re: [CANUFNET] Urban Trees Are Infrastructure - Natural Capital Assets

Hi Erna:

You’ll forgive me but trees are NOT infrastructure.

Infrastructure is what humans construct. Trees are a living organism - NOT a human construct.

Trees are an essential part of the Urban Forest which can be defined as follows:

" The Urban Forest is an ecosystem characterized by the presence of trees and related flora and fauna, the soils and landscapes they populate and the air and water resource they coexist with, all in a dynamic association with people and their human settlements." (Zürcher, N. In review. Connecting Trees with People: Synergistic Strategies for Growing the Urban Forest. Springer Publishing)

Green infrastructure is a term that was coined by the US EPA and was defined as follows:
"Section 502 of the Clean Water Act defines green infrastructure as "...the range of measures that use plant or soil systems, permeable pavement or other permeable surfaces or substrates, stormwater harvest and reuse, or landscaping to store, infiltrate, or evapotranspirate stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or to surface waters."
Green infrastructure is a cost-effective, resilient approach to managing wet weather impacts that provides many community benefits. While single-purpose gray stormwater infrastructure—conventional piped drainage and water treatment systems—is designed to move urban stormwater away from the built environment, green infrastructure reduces and treats stormwater at its source while delivering environmental, social, and economic benefits…”
https://www.epa.gov/green-infrastructure/what-green-infrastructure

Thank you for your attention to this important information

Kind regards
Naomi Zürcher

On Feb 19, 2021, at 11:52 AM, ebuffie--- via CANUFNET <canufnet at list.web.net<mailto:canufnet at list.web.net>> wrote:

Hi Everyone,

Trees Please Winnipeg has made a budget submission to the federal government asking for natural infrastructure funds for urban forests. If you have time you can help to support our efforts by reading our submission here:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VpBsp1Ai_wJPX7020UqP4miVDZlVeoVA/view?fbclid=IwAR32HXwFpjVrYvEXUPwKCjTCB7P5tcLOa4HwKr8A0M3BkGeJOqN1ViKXugU

Then take a few minutes to:

1. Fill out the budget 2021 questionnaire and make sure you include “Invest in Communities through public transit, affordable housing, and green infrastructure” as one of your choices for Question One. https://letstalkbudget2021.ca/pre_budget_consultations

2. EMAIL Finance Minister Freeland and cc your MP to let them know why you urban trees matter and support our request for infrastructure funding. Chrystia.Freeland at parl.gc.ca<mailto:Chrystia.Freeland at parl.gc.ca>

You can also read an oped on the subject here:https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/urban-forest-deserves-multi-layered-support-573826582.html?fbclid=IwAR0BcLtz36j_RckKmlpYrbWGsvcDM-SPPCLC42H17kRJ7Yfvu351k-o6NaE

Thanks for your time!

Erna

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