Abstract Manager

The City of Edmonton is delivering on the commitment made in 2021's City Plan to be “Greener as we Grow” which involves driving climate resilience ahead and strengthening our natural systems. As a major municipality that has recently grown to over one million people, the City Plan maps out what growth will look like as the population doubles and the targets and measures that will be used to ensure development does not come at the expense of sustainability.

The City of Edmonton has committed to planting two million trees through a combination of open space and boulevard tree planting, as well as planting native species in naturalized areas. The target of having two million trees planted within the next eight years is part of the City’s Urban Forest Asset Management goal of achieving 20 percent canopy cover by 2071. The last measurement of Edmonton’s urban forest canopy was 13 percent in 2019.

To achieve this ambitious goal, the City of Edmonton has partnered with the Federal Government and has received the largest grant funding in Canada under the Natural Resources Canada 2 Billion Trees (2BT) program. 

This presentation will share how the the City of Edmonton will plant more than 2 million trees and shrubs over 300 hectares across the City, in naturalized areas, boulevards and open spaces. Highlights will include the strategies and tools around where naturalization and maintained tree planting will occur. 

Strategy: The in-depth “Naturalization, Restoration and Reclamation Plan” provides a strategic and operational level guide for site selection, planning, budgeting and implementation, including species lists suited to Edmonton’s climate, geography, soils and ecology. 

Tools: A “Green Infrastructure Expansion Mapping” tool provides processes and best practices for ongoing monitoring and maintenance of Edmonton’s green infrastructure. This tool takes into account factors such as equity, heat island effect, walking access to green spaces, recreation opportunities, wildlife connectivity and biodiversity, carbon capture, and more. 

The City of Edmonton has an ambitious agenda to mitigate climate change and they are a national leader in urban forestry and naturalization. This session will be an opportunity for other municipalities, big and small, to learn how to put their climate change goals into action by being greener as they grow.