Category Archives: Urban Forestry

Today is World Forestry Day and TD Green Streets is celebrating by announcing the 21 Canadian communities that will receive TD Green Streets grants in 2012.

Grants will be used to green local communities through tree planting, inventory, maintenance and educational activities and are awarded for innovative approaches to municipal forestry.

The TD Green Streets program awards funding to projects in Canadian municipalities and Aboriginal communities, as well as to Business Improvement Associations (BIAs) in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. A joint initiative between TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and Tree Canada, it is the only nationally based municipal forestry innovation program. Since 1994, the program has awarded funding to more than 475 communities, improving municipal green spaces and diversifying urban canopies.

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The city of London, Ontario has started cutting down nearly 10,000 ash trees from public property because of the emerald ash borer.

In the Jalna Boulevard neighbourhood of London, where crews are working this week, they have found that just about every ash tree has already been infected by the insect.

The trees aren’t being cut to stop the spread, because that has been proven to not be effective. Instead, the trees are being culled because it is a matter of time before the emerald ash borer kills the tree. Each tree that is cut will be replaced with two others of a different species. The estimated $14 million program to replace the trees has yet to be given the green light from the city’s budget.

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Due to the Emerald Ash Borer invasion, the city of Toronto estimates that by 2017, all of the ash trees in the city will be dead or dying.

The emerald ash borer is a native insect of East Asia. It was first found Ontario in 2002, in Windsor. It kills 99% of the ash trees it infests by disrupting the flow water and nutrients in the trees, starving them to death. All 16 species of Ash (Fraxinus spp.) found in North America, at any age and stage of development, are susceptible to the emerald ash borer. The mountain ash (Sorbus spp.) is not related to ash trees and it not susceptible.

At first, scientists tried to find ways to eradicate the insect by controlling its spread. Unfortunately, this proved to be very difficult because early detection of an emerald ash borer infestation is hard to spot. It many locations, signs of the infestation weren’t apparent until after 2 years.

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As a follow up to an earlier story, the province of Saskatchewan has reconsidered cutting all Dutch Elm Disease funding.

The government has decided to reinstate a portion of the funding so Dutch elm trees outside of cities will continue to be monitored.

However, the province will no longer foot the bill for removing trees that are identified as having the disease. Rural municipalities will be responsible for their removal.

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The Saskatchewan government has decided to cut its 20 year old, Dutch Elm Disease control program.

The cut will save the province $500,000 a year.

Dutch elm disease is a fungus spread by elm bark beetles, which kills trees. Once the disease takes root, there is nothing to do but remove the sick trees immediately before it has a chance to spread.

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