Burlington's Open Data Being Used in Canadian Institute of Forestry's National Tree Tracking Project 'Open Urban Forests'

The Canadian Institute of Forestry/Institut forestier du Canada recently reached out to the Burlington Mayor's Office to let us know they are using our City's tree inventory through our open accessible data in the launch of their “Open Urban Forests – Establishing the First National View of Urban Forestry Geospatial Data in Canada” project.I've included a copy of the letter we received from the Canadian Institute of Forestry below for additional details:June 5, 2023Canadian Institute of ForestryP.O. Box 99, 6905 Hwy. 17 WestMattawa, ON P0H 1V0www.cif-ifc.orgHer Worship Marianne Meed WardMayor of the City of Burlington426 Brant StreetBurlinton, ONL7R 3Z6Dear Mayor Meed Ward,The Canadian Institute of Forestry/Institut forestier du Canada is pleased to inform you of the launch of an innovative project titled “Open Urban Forests – Establishing the First National View of Urban Forestry Geospatial Data in Canada” that may be of interest to your municipality.The project aims to establish the first national and interactive view of urban forestry geospatial data and open-access resources in Canada, ensuring that this data is easily findable, discoverable, and interoperable. The Institute recognized that a coordinated approach for tracking improvement in tree cover, number of trees planted, carbon storage, and long-term trends currently does not exist in Canada, which is where the Open Urban Forests project will be beneficial. This project received funding support from Natural Resources Canada, under the 2 Billion Trees Program. The official press release issued by the CIF-IFC can be accessed here.The Open Urban Forests project has three main objectives and will be completed by March 2024:

1. Conduct a review of Canadian cities with/without open access urban forestry geospatial data and open-access resources;
2. Develop a National Advisory Committee of urban forestry and geospatial experts to create best management strategies for how urban forestry geospatial data and open access resources can be showcased; and
3. Finalize best management practices to collect, compile and standardize data from municipalities across Canada, and create an interactive learning hub on the CIF-IFC website (cif-ifc.org). Data and open access resources will be centralized within the hub and displayed on a user-friendly, interactive map, allowing for data integration over time, in order for long-term trends to be monitored/tracked.

The CIF-IFC has partnered with Sparkgeo Consulting Inc. and the University of British Columbia Urban Forestry Program (Dr. Andrew D. Almas, copied here) on the project, while working in collaboration with a National Advisory Committee to provide feedback and guidance on project deliverables. A list of National Advisory Committee members can be consulted here.In the first phase of the project, urban forestry geospatial data will be compiled from Canadian municipalities with populations of >50,000 that currently have Open Data Portals.As a municipality within this criterion, we are reaching to you to inform you of the project and advise that your open access forestry geospatial data will be included on our interactive learning hub. The link we have on file for your Open Data Portal is: https://navburl-burlington.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/city-owned-trees/explore?location=43.347398%2C-79.781570%2C9.00We would also like to congratulate the City of Burlington on having open accessible data that is helping to support and advance a national view of urban forestry.Please contact the project team below if you have any concerns or questions, or to advise of an alternative Open Data Portal link than the one we have on file above. If you have historical or additional inventory data that is not currently open access but you would like added to the project, please connect with us. The project team is also available to meet with you and your staff to provide additional details on this project.Future phases of the project could involve integrating urban forestry geospatial data from municipalities that currently do not have Open Data Portals.The Open Urban Forests project will result in a number of benefits, such as supporting decision-making and measuring the continuous effects of climate change and other trends on urban forests across Canada. The learning hub will also promote knowledge transfer, training and education related to the management, protection and monitoring of urban trees and forests. The CIF-IFC believes the outcomes of this project will benefit stakeholders in the urban forestry sphere and allied fields including GIS/technology/geography/planning/architecture and others.For more information, please contact the project team:

• Natasha Machado, Director of Programs and Initiatives, nmachado@cif-ifc.org
• Sharon Yang, Forest Science Program Coordinator, syang@cif-ifc.org

Sincerely,Mark Pearson,Executive Director