Vancouver Park Board launched its annual tree sale Wednesday
The tree sales are part of the board’s effort to help restore Vancouver’s tree canopy, which has been steadily declining since the 1990s.
The board has 1,500 trees available online for $10 each.
Since the first tree sale in 2015, Vancouverites have purchased more than 9,000 discounted trees.
“We need residents to help us grow the urban forest or we will continue to lose our forest canopy,” said board chair Michael Weibe. “This fall we’re also selling potted trees for balconies so apartment dwellers can help support Vancouver’s biodiversity.”
With more than 60 per cent of Vancouver residents living in apartments, the sale now includes seven varieties of trees that live well in pots and are suitable for balconies, as well as yards.
In 1995, more than 22 per cent of the city was covered in trees. By 2013 that number had dropped to 18 per cent. The park board will measure the canopy cover again next year.
The city made changes to toughen up the tree bylaw in 2014. Previously, a property owner could take down one healthy tree per year. That provision accounted for 45 per cent of trees being removed — and between 1995 and 2013, 96 per cent of all trees lost in the city were on private property.
In 2014, city council approved amendments to strengthen the bylaw, and now a tree can only be removed if it is diseased or dying, or causing damage to a water line or foundation. However, trees being removed in the name of development are another issue.
The board aims to plant 17,500 trees this year to help the city meet its goal of 150,000 new trees by 2020. So far, the city is more than halfway to its goal.
Trees are only available to Vancouver residents and can be pre-purchased online at vancouver.ca/tree-sale for pick up on Sept. 17 at Hillcrest Community Centre with a maximum three allowed per household.
A limited number of trees will be available for sale, cash only, on Sept. 17 between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
For more details, go to http://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/vancouver-tree-weekend.aspx.
