CAC Crowdsourced Climate Implications Crowdsourced Effort
Crowdsourced - Tree Protection By-Laws
Crowdsourced Climate Implications - Tree Protection By-Laws
Crowdsourced4
Executive summary
Background
- Tree protection by-laws address tree protection on existing private property, which is a significant percentage of a community’s urban forest
- Tree protection by-laws are often part of a municipalities Urban Forest Management Plan
- Tree Protection by-laws address the loss of trees on private property that occurs because there are no municipal rules for tree protection
Climate implications
Climate Risks and Opportunities
Climate Risks
- Staff resources needed to enforce bylaws – low fines are not deterrents
- We need higher tree replacement rules, e.g. replacing mature trees with a few young trees is needed for viability (reduced mortality rate) but does not replace the function of the mature tree that was removed
Climate Opportunities
Mitigation
- Would tree protection by-laws prevent building a new bike lane?
- How affected are tree-protection by-laws versus development of new buildings
Adaptation
- Able to adapt to floods through stormwater run-off, mitigation through absorbing CO2
- Offers benefits such as helping with the heat-island effect, improving air quality, mental health, and carbon storage.
- Health Opportunity
- Opportunity for Noise Reduction (Health)
- Shade equity
- Biodiversity
- Natural assets across urban areas provide multiple benefits, including to support green-habitat corridors
Preliminary Climate Implications
Decision High-Level Questions:
- Is this decision the only option available to meet the need/hoped-for outcome?
- A municipality can have no rules related to the protection of trees on private property (the do-nothing approach), however, they will likely face more loss of mature trees that provide ecosystem services.
- Tree protection by-laws prevent significant canopy cover loss by residents and businesses on private residential/commercial property. A tree protection by-law also protects trees during construction and right-of-way maintenance and construction. Though trees in the ROW are often on municipal property, tree protection by-laws can protect these trees as well, by ensuring a permit is issued prior to cutting and then the resident applying for the permit would be made aware that the tree is on municipal property.
- What other issues are we trying to solve?
- Climate change mitigation and adaptation, tree canopy cover loss, destruction of city tree property, destruction of residential and commercial trees, heat wave impacts on city infrastructure as well as public health, air pollution, and air quality improvements.
- Is this work locking in long-term emissions?
- No, tree protection by-laws help advance a municipality’s GHG reduction targets by protecting trees on private property. Trees are part of municipal climate change opportunities. Trees serve as a sink for carbon and provide many other ecosystem services (ex., urban heat island mitigation)
- What consequences could arise from this?
- Any time a municipality tries implementing a tree protection by-law, public resistance may exist. Some people may try to resist governmental regulation/rules on what they do on their private property. Still, municipalities must consider the community ecosystem and balance property owner rights with the ecosystem services trees provide to the whole community.
- The cost to residents associated with tree maintenance.
- Does the work align with [municipal] policies related to [the] environment and climate?
- Municipal Climate Change Action Plans: By absorbing carbon dioxide, trees help lower a municipality’s GHG emissions. Tree canopy cover in a municipality is both a mitigation and adaptation measure. It absorbs carbon dioxide and lowers the overall temperature of its immediate and close surrounding area, reducing temperatures during heat waves – especially in urban areas with few permeable surfaces and plant life.
- Water Management Plans: Reduces stormwater runoff through its canopy and root system.
- Natural Capital Plans: This work also aligns with natural capital plans by adding to municipalities’ natural capital.
- Air Quality Plans: Air quality improvements through pollution abatement trees provide
- Public health Plans: Helps a municipality advance its public health targets through air quality improvements, relief from high temperatures and sun exposure during heat waves. Tree protection by-laws align with public health plans by improving mental health by integrating nature into urban areas.
- Urban Forestry Plans: Tree protection by-laws ensure tree canopy cover and public safety by requiring permits for residents to cut down trees over a height requirement. In addition, tree protection by-laws align with urban forestry plans by preventing the reduction of the urban forest and is an essential part of urban forestry planning strategy to retain, replace and renew the urban forest canopy. Tree protection by-laws also ensure trees are protected from damage in addition to being cut down. Identifies fines for illegal tree removal and procedures for tree removal.
- Additional Resources: TD – Value of the Urban Forest
Mitigation High-Level Questions:
- How does it support/undermine the Climate Action Mitigation Plan?
- Tree protection by-laws advance Climate Action Mitigation measures because they protect trees that serve as a carbon sink and possible reductions in energy use (depending on the placement of trees).
- Helps achieve municipal urban forestry canopy targets.
- Supports municipal stormwater plans.
- GHG Implications
- Wood waste can serve as a biomass source or wood chips/mulch.
- Once a tree decomposes, it releases its carbon into the atmosphere, but generally, trees are considered carbon neutral.
- There may be GHG emissions from the transportation and maintenance of trees – transportation for arborists, chainsaw use (oil and gasoline emissions).
- Once a tree decomposes, it releases its carbon into the atmosphere, but generally, trees are considered carbon neutral.
- Wood waste can serve as a biomass source or wood chips/mulch.
- Even if there is no quantitative analysis – will it increase or decrease GHG emissions?
- Generally, tree protection by-laws will always reduce GHGs compared to the do-nothing scenario because they protect mature trees. In addition, it will maintain or decrease GHG emissions if more trees are planted.
- Tree protection by-laws must be verified/monitored to ensure they protect trees rather than just collecting funds to pay for tree removal.
- What GHG reduction efforts have been incorporated?
- The added requirement of obtaining a permit to remove a tree could reduce the likelihood of residents, developers, and businesses from removing trees due to them avoiding the added task. In addition, the added requirement of obtaining a permit could result in minor GHG emissions from transportation to and from the municipal office issuing permits.
- What are the ecosystem services implications?
- Mature trees absorb far more carbon and provide far more ecosystem services than young trees. Therefore, tree protection by-laws support the protection of ecosystem services from stress.
- Have health co-benefits been identified or calculated? TD – Value of the Urban Forest
- What potential consequences could arise from this action? Are we doing more for less?
- Developers, businesses, and residents could complain that this by-law is an unnecessarily bureaucratic process and infringes on personal property rights.
- Does not implementing a Tree Protection By-law option increase public health risk?
- Yes, even if it still results in trees being cut down, it likely will reduce the number of trees being cut down.
- Does this address a legislative/regulatory responsibility?
- GHG Reduction targets
- Thus far, there isn’t a minimum level of urban forestry requirements placed on municipalities, though most municipalities see the need for municipal support and improvements to urban forestry commitments/improvements.
Adaptation High-Level Questions:
- How does it support/undermine the Climate Action Adaptation Plan?
- Tree protection by-laws support implementing climate action adaptation plans because urban forests reduce heat in urban areas, reduce air pollution, improve air quality, and ultimately reduce heat-related injuries and deaths.
- What urban heat island implications may there be? Is there any way to measure that? Address that?
- Tree protection by-laws reduce the urban heat island because the trees cool the surrounding air
- What are the precipitation implications?
- Protecting trees and canopy cover improves precipitation by reducing/ slowing stormwater runoff by increasing permeable surface (retaining water).
- How does it impact/influence flooding risk?
- Tree protection by-laws will reduce flooding risk by increasing permeable surface cover, slowing/reducing stormwater runoff, and slowing rainwater reaching the ground surface.
- Dealing with precipitation on site (permeable vs impermeable)
- Tree protection by-laws increase the ability to deal with precipitation on site and increase the permeable surface area.
- Modal split (ability to move modal split from Single Occupancy Vehicles (SOV) to Active Transportation (AT))
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- Not easy to achieve at the site level; this needs to be advanced at the system level to make a change. However, it is the individual pieces that make up the system.
- Tree protection by-laws may increase the urban canopy cover, if tree shading aligns with AT routes this can make for a more pleasant AT experience.
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- What accessibility issues might there be?
- Trees, if not maintained, could impact sidewalks and cause accessibility issues.
- How can this decision affect shading/tree canopy targets?
- Tree protection by-laws improve shading/tree canopy targets by protecting trees from damage and removal.
- Equity implications related to the decision (potential equity implications are being explored via another crowdsourcing effort)
- Accessibility
- For pedestrians, the air quality improvements and heat reduction resulting from increased tree canopy cover could improve their surrounding environment while commuting or travelling through the urban area.
- Income level
- The urban tree canopy is often limited in low-income areas as these areas often have little green space. Tree protection by-laws could reduce tree removal and increase the amount of green space for low-income residents.
- Vulnerable, Underserved, and Equity-deserving populations
- Like low-income areas, vulnerable and underserved populations are often low-income and, through past segregation laws and inequitable policy, often live in areas with limited tree canopy cover and green space. Tree protection by-laws can reduce the removal of trees in these areas.
- Age
- Children and elderly residents are most vulnerable to climate-related heat events and poor air quality. Tree protection by-laws would result in less tree removal, thereby reducing the loss of urban tree canopies, improving air quality, and cooling the air.
- Accessibility
- Have health co-benefits been identified or calculated?
- Does this help address the municipality’s high risks or vulnerabilities? If so, which?
- Yes, tree protection by-laws, through the reduction of tree removal and protection of existing trees, help a municipality adapt to increased climate-related extreme weather events, including heat waves, atmospheric rivers, storms, flooding, drought, and erosion.
- Does this adaptation increase emissions (maladaptation)?
- No, except for possible minor increases in transportation emissions due to the tree removal permit process.
- The benefits of tree protection outweigh the GHG emissions associated with tree maintenance.
- Are there funding or partnership opportunities to address this?
- Yes, for example, the City of London provides funding to residents to help manage mature trees on their properties.
- Municipalities could partner with non-profit environmental organizations to organize tree plantings and improve tree canopy cover as a community engagement in tree protection and tree canopy cover and connect it to climate adaptation. LEAF tree planting program
- 2 Billion Trees – Funding Stream for Tree Planting