Compendium of Best Urban Forest Management Practices

Introduction

Welcome to the updated version of the Compendium of Best Management Practices for Canadian Urban Forests developed by Dr. Adrina C. Bardekjian. As Canada moves into the 21st century, the 80%+ of Canadians who live in urban communities are increasingly concerned about the viability of their forests. And not just for aesthetic reasons, but for the many ecological, architectural, climatic, psychological and monetary reasons as well. These concerns are pushing the Canadian urban forest envelope like never before. Employment in urban forestry is at an all-time high. Urban forests are making their way into municipal and provincial legislation and into national strategic documents. Membership in urban forest organizations is at an all-time high. Municipalities are being increasingly engaged in strategic urban forest planning. Heritage tree protection is becoming widespread. Environmental and forestry conferences are increasingly including Canada’s 9th Forest Region (its urban forests) in their discussions and agendas. Think of this document as the prototype to help you the practitioner with the very best in management practices to ensure that these forests flourish making Canada’s cities that much more liveable and an even greater envy of the world. Use it well.

Michael Rosen, R.P.F.,
Former President, Tree Canada

How to Cite this Resource

Bardekjian, A. (2018). Compendium of best urban forest management practices. Second Edition. Originally commissioned to Tree Canada by Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved from: https://treecanada.ca/resources/canadian-urban-forest-compendium/

Purpose of the Compendium

The purpose of the Compendium is to provide a web-based resource, which outlines for municipalities, residents and elected officials some of the components, technical standards and examples of a municipally-based urban forest program. Offering websites, links to on-line resources, initiatives and programs, the Compendium is a dynamic document. We welcome suggestions for any new additions (or deletions) to the site.

We would like to thank the Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, for sponsoring this project of Tree Canada in 2006. We would also like to extend our appreciation to everyone who provided comments on the original version: Andy Kenney, David Domke, Tony Fleischmann, Mark Peterson, Stephen Smith, Julian Ambrosii and Bernard Kradjian. In particular, we would like to thank Catherine Christoffersen for her tireless efforts in helping to revise this Compendium in 2018.

Adrina C. Bardekjian, MFC, PhD, Author
Manager, Urban Forestry Programs & Research Development

How to Submit Content to the Chapters of this Resource

The Compendium is a web-based resource, which outlines for municipalities, residents and elected officials some of the components, technical standards and examples of a municipally-based urban forest program. Offering websites, links to on-line resources, initiatives and programs, the Compendium is a dynamic document and we welcome suggestions for any new additions (or deletions) to the chapters. Please note that reviews of submissions are conducted by Tree Canada Communications, and not necessarily by the original author.

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