By Craig Westcott/September 23, 2022
If Mount Pearl council gets its way, the city will be one of the greenest metropolitan places on earth in the coming years.
Councillor Isabel Fry gave a hint of those plans at Wednesday's public council meeting, which happened to coincide with National Tree Day.
"National Tree Day is an opportunity to celebrate some of the many benefits that trees provide such as clean air, cooler cities, wildlife habitat and connection with nature," Fry pointed out. "This week is also National Forest Week and the theme this year is 'Canada's Forests: Solutions for a Changing Climate.'"
Fry noted the City is working on an urban forestry plan. "It's called Setting Roots and Growing Forward," she said. "We have it drafted and it’s coming through the process. The vision of the plan is to create a sustainable and accessible urban forest that is properly managed and cared for benefitting our residents and businesses with improved social, economic and environmental wellbeing while enabling council and staff to provide cost-effective implementation management and maintenance. So, the goal of the plan is to strive to increase the city's tree canopy coverage by planting a minimum of 1,000 trees of varied species by 2035."
Residents and business operators will be encouraged to contribute towards the goal, Fry said. The City has earmarked some $150,000 for tree planting.
Perhaps there's no bigger supporter of the plan than councillor Jim Locke.
"I'm delighted to see councillor Fry bring this in," Locke said. "I'm glad Mount Pearl is progressive on this front in adopting an urban forestry plan and we now realize that our trees and our vegetation are certainly a part of our green infrastructure. And we all know the benefits of trees for water retention, for example, during storm conditions."
Locke said he recently heard a news story that reported that doctors in British Columbia can now prescribe their patients to spend time in nature. Doing so, he noted, can help with a person's mental health and even physical ailments by reducing blood pressure.
"When you consider that we have 60 kms of trails in 16 square kilometres of our city's footprint here we are very fortunate to have that," Locke said.
Planting trees, Locke argued, is a responsible thing for the City to do.
"We do have some areas for further development up in Northlands, for example, that will require the removal of some trees, but we are cognizant of the fact that with that there will be the replanting of trees," he said. "So, it's all about increasing our tree canopy. We know the benefits for fresh air and shading and urban heat islands. But this is new for your mental health, and I do know in the Japanese school system they have forest bathing where they go outside and spend time in the forest as part of their school day. It also enhances and increases their learning capability and academic achievement."
Locke said society finally seems to be getting it right in realizing that "we're not above nature, we're one with nature and if we want to continue to have successful, healthy lives, we do have to incorporate and protect our natural environment. So, I'm delighted that we're recognizing National Tree Day and I'm especially delighted that we're moving forward with our urban forestry plan."
