Photo: Pixabay Penticton should see a lot more shade in the next two decades, after council endorsed the Tree Canopy Plan on Tuesday. After public feedback and surveys, the plan recommended a target of 18 per cent city-wide canopy cover by 2045. According to staff's report, during the online open house, participants unanimously recommended pursuing a higher city-wide tree canopy (>17%) over the next 20 years.
There was also a consensus for the need for more trees and greater tree canopy, particularly in urban areas. Staff were also given direction from council to incorporate the Urban Forest Management Plan into the next review for the Official Community Plan. The Urban Forest Management Plan was launched last year and introduced residents to Penticton’s urban forest and identified areas with a need to build up tree canopy.
Ysabel Contreas, the city’s parks planning and capital projects co-ordinator, shared that the current urban forest structure consists of mostly small trees, although medium to large trees make the most significant contributions to the canopy. Staff's report to council found that by using a program called I-Tree Canopy software, the services provided by trees—which include shade/cooling, soil stabilization, storm runoff control, carbon storage/sequestration, habitat, mental and physical health, and aesthetic beauty—shows that Penticton's urban forest delivers over $1.8 million annually in benefits from carbon sequestration, stormwater management, and air pollution filtration.
"The total carbon stored by the city trees is valued at over $16.5 million, and it is estimated that replacing the city's approximately 8000 inventoried trees would cost at least $13.4 million," the report added.
The required resources to support implementation will be included in the upcoming budget deliberations. For more on the Urban Forest Management Plan, head to the city's website here..
