Urban Forest Management Plan

About Urban Forests

An urban forest includes all of a community's trees and supporting vegetation in an urban area that found on both public and private lands, including parks and boulevards. Other elements of an urban forest include plants (such as shrubs and grasses), micro-organisms and wildlife, and even soil and water. The health of an urban forest is also affected by its interface with the built environment and intensive human influence - namely, the places that we live, work, and play in.

View a conceptual cross-section illustrating different realms of an urban forest and its interaction with the built environment.

Urban Forest Management - Cross-Section Example

About the White Rock Urban Forest Management Plan

The White Rock Urban Forest Management Plan is a collaborative process intended to co-create a vision and establish priorities to protect and enhance the community's urban forest. This process will involve a review of current management procedures, examine best practices, and provide recommendations as to how the City can preserve and improve this valuable public resource. This document is intended to:

  • Engage and partner with the community to build stewardship of the urban forest
  • Manage the urban forest for community climate adaptation
  • Protect and enhance tree canopy coverage across the City
  • Strengthen ecological systems and biodiversity
  • Support a healthy, well-adapted and diverse tree population

This plan will also provide direction for the future maintenance of the urban forest, establish targets for canopy cover growth, identify locations and species for new tree planting, and assess how we all can improve, protect, and maintain the health of the City's natural environment.

Get Involved

As a collaboratively created document, engaging with community members and stakeholders is a vital aspect of the planning process. Feedback from the public will be used to help develop a vision and direction for future management of trees and natural areas within the City, to establish targets for future canopy cover. This plan will also inform potential amendments to the White Rock Tree Management Bylaw, 2008, No. 1831 and City Policy No. 611.

As part of this consultation process, an Urban Forest Management Forum was held on June 24, 2015 at the White Rock Community Centre. Background information is provided at the previous link. A survey was also conducted to gain feedback from those who were not able to attend the Forum.

Additional consultation will be scheduled upon the completion of a draft Urban Forest Management Plan.

More Information

Please contact the Planning and Development Services Department by emailing Planning or calling 604-541-2108.