Trees in their golden years residing in the City of North Vancouver are looking at being better cared for following a passionate plea at a meeting Monday evening.
Council has unanimously supported a motion asking staff to look into ways property developers can be incentivized to preserve large and mature trees not protected by current tree bylaws. The motion also requests staff provide an annual report on the number of mature trees that are saved or removed under the current tree bylaw.
Proffering the motion to council Monday evening Coun. Shervin Shahriari said there are a “large number” of trees not being covered by the current bylaw, and that it was a council priority “to act as a steward of the environment for future generations”, by preserving those that are in danger of being sawed down.
He said mature trees are “precious resources” that improve the health and wellbeing of residents and play a key role in maintaining the local environment. The more mature the tree, he said, the greater the benefits it brings.
“Mature trees are special natural structures and, disproportionate to their size, they are providers of resources critical to many birds and other species. They have a better capacity to reduce temperatures, capture and store carbon, muffle urban noise and prevent stormwater runoff,” he said. “We must preserve as many of our remaining mature trees as we can.”
The motion was met with resounding support from council, many of whom touched on the city’s current plans and projects that are already in place, including its Urban Forest Plan, which focuses on protecting and expanding current tree cover.
Coun. Tony Valente said prioritizing the health of trees would not only be beneficial to the environment and to the City but to the developers themselves, as it would put them in a favourable light with the ever-increasing, environmentally conscious community.
“In conversations that I’ve had with property developers and the city, I’ve said to them time and again, ‘I think someone’s going to really benefit when they’re bold and they act to protect mature trees, and find ways to make them part of their projects,’” he said. “Someone who brings forward something like that is going to win the hearts of a lot of folks in the city.”
Supporting the motion, Mayor Linda Buchanan added the protection of the City’s mature trees is just one small facet of a larger climate action plan that the public should be more aware of.
“We need to be telling the story of all the measures we’re doing in order to address the big challenges that we have in front of us around climate and [greenhouse gas emissions], noise, etc.,” she said. “Because it’s not one thing. It’s not one silver bullet that’s going to save this. It’s all these different policy pieces and directions that we’re taking as a city.”
Mina Kerr-Lazenby is the North Shore News’ Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
