Burlington Now Designated Among the 'Tree Cities of the World'
Today (Monday, April 24), we held a very special flag-raising at City Hall to commemorate Burlington being awarded the "Tree Cities of the World" designation from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Arbor Day Foundation.Burlington has joined 18 other Canadian cities who have received this designation, among them: Toronto; Mississauga; Guelph; Victoria, B.C.; Edmonton, Alta.; and Halifax, N.S.Tree Cities of the World provides direction, assistance, and worldwide recognition for a community’s dedication to its urban forest. The program provides a framework for a healthy, sustainable urban forestry program in a town or city.[gallery ids="32181,32180,32182,32183,32184"]To receive the recognition, a town or city must meet five core standards:
- Establish Responsibility
- The city has a written statement by city leaders delegating responsibility for the care of trees within the municipal boundary to a staff member, a city department, or a group of citizens -- called a Tree Board.
- Set The Rules
- The city has in place a law or an official policy that governs the management of forests and trees. These rules describe how work must be performed -- often citing best practices or industry standards for tree care and worker safety: where and when they apply, and penalties for non-compliance.
- Know What You Have
- The city has an updated inventory or assessment of the local tree resource so that an effective long-term plan for planting, care and removal of city trees can be established.
- Allocate The Resources
- The city has a dedicated annual budget for the routine implementation of the tree management plan.
- Celebrate Achievements
- The city holds an annual celebration of trees to raise awareness among residents and to acknowledge citizens and staff members who carry out the city tree program.
In Burlington we have policies and bylaws in place to protect our urban tree canopy, an inventory of trees, we allocate resources in our budget towards this endeavour and we celebrate our achievements through Arbor Day and tree-plantings -- with the most recent taking place this past Earth Day (April 22).Our Earth Day tree-planting event this past weekend saw more than 200 volunteers brave the rain to plant 500 trees in partnership with BurlingtonGreen. We couldn't do this without our community partners, volunteers and staff all doing our part.For more information, visit: treecitiesoftheworld.orgMY TAKE:This is an international organization that bestows the designation after a vetted process. You have to display active steps to protect, preserve and enhance your trees and we're certainly doing that with much kudos to our City of Burlington Forestry team!It’s wonderful to officially announce, so soon after Earth Day, the City of Burlington has been designated among the ‘Tree Cities of the World’ by meeting five standards that are considered to be a leader in Urban Forest Management -- and recognizing it with a flag-raising at City Hall. We’ve seen, now more than ever, how vital trees and forests are to a community’s overall health, livability and sustainability – that’s why protecting our urban tree canopy and rural boundary is an important tenet of the City of Burlington, your Council and our residents. Thank you to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Arbor Day Foundation for recognizing Burlington’s commitment to properly maintaining, sustainably managing and duly celebrating our urban forests and trees.RELATED LINK: