District of Sechelt Urban Forest Plan

District of Sechelt Urban Forest Plan 2010
GOAL 2: PREPARE AND ENHANCE THE URBAN FOREST FOR THE FUTURE
Preparing our urban forests for the future means developing strategies to help our forests handle
changes in climate, invasive species, forest fire, and disease etc. Enhancing our urban forests for the
future refers to increases in the quantity, quality and diversity of treed landscapes and forests within the
District.
Improve Canopy Coverage, Urban Forest Productivity and Longevity through
Planting and Maintenance
To maintain a healthy treed landscape, with forest productivity and longevity, our urban forests will
require ongoing planting and maintenance. To ensure that we have mature trees in place to take over for
those trees that die out and require removal, we will need to be planting every year.
The village of Sechelt and other denser, highly developed neighbourhood centres require extra planting
to increase their canopy coverage, and productivity.
Plant and Maintain Unused District Right of Ways
Unused District Right of Ways should be planted and maintained as multipurpose trails in
conjunction with existing plans laid out in the Parks and Open Space Master Plan, Official
Community Plan, and Master Transportation Plan.
Review Tree Planting Lists
Review and update the District of Sechelt Parks tree planting list and expand it into a database
with detailed species information. The trees should be categorized by site conditions to reduce
the maintenance costs and increase chances for success. Pertinent species information for
inclusion: how big the tree gets, how quickly it grows, typical root size, maintenance issues, pests
and disease resistance, and watering requirements. All species chosen should be available in local
nurseries. See Appendix C for examples from City of Victoria (COV).
November 2010 Page 29