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Trees and Urban Forestry

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As Edmontonians, we value and understand the importance of the city’s urban forest. Not only do trees create beautiful scenery, they also provide environmental and economic benefits such as reduced air and noise pollution, conserving energy and reducing energy bills.

The City is committed to growing, sustaining, acquiring, maintaining, preserving and protecting our urban forest.

Plan, Policy and Procedure

The Urban Forest Management Plan outlines key principles, objectives and strategies.

Corporate Tree Management Policy and Tree Reserve Procedure outline roles and responsibilities in managing the City of Edmonton Urban Forest and outline mechanisms to ensure preservation and protection.

The policy also refers to three supporting guidelines that are used by the City including:

Tree Preservation Guidelines
Guidelines for Evaluation of Trees
Natural Stand Valuation Guidelines

In most cases, the trees that line the streets and that grow in our parks and River Valley are owned by the City
Call 311 to confirm if a tree adjacent to or on your construction site is a City-owned tree
City trees exist in parks, along boulevards, natural areas - including our River Valley and ravines and tableland native tree stands and naturalized sites - all require our stewardship

Urban Forestry Spotlight - Emerald Award Nominee

Protecting Edmonton’s Urban Forest During Neighbourhood Renewal

The City’s Community Forestry team was recently nominated for an Emerald Award, which showcases and recognizes environmental achievements throughout Alberta.

Edmonton’s Neighbourhood Renewal program is a long term approach to replacing and upgrading urban infrastructure within individual neighbourhoods in a focused, integrated process. Upgrades include underground drainage, streetlights, curb/sidewalk replacement, and road reconstruction, all within the same construction season.

While this process provides certain efficiencies, it is extremely stressful on adjacent trees, particularly mature trees providing the greatest environmental benefits. Intensive construction near trees can cause long-term health effects to trees, including death. The City of Edmonton’s Urban Forestry team has developed a comprehensive approach to preserve and protect trees from the impacts of these construction activities.