Port Moody on track to meet its tree canopy goals, say city staff

Port Moody planted over 1,100 more trees in 2024 than 2023 and is on track to meet the goals outlined in the city’s urban forest management strategy.

According to the city’s urban forest management report cards, the city saw nearly 2,250 trees planted on public land and almost another 1,450 on private land in 2024 (with 410 and 900 removed, respectively). Whereas in 2023, 1,120 new trees were planted on public land and nearly 550 on private land (with 303 and 391 removed from each designation).

“I’m pretty happy about it,” said Port Moody Coun. Amy Lubik regarding the 2024 report card. She credited some of the increase with tree replacement policies, where if someone takes down a tree it has to be replaced with two.

She praised staff for being: “so dedicated to preserving and protecting and expanding our tree canopy.”

“We have shown . . . that things can be done and that we are growing our tree canopy. So I think that’s moving in a positive direction.”

The city has “really worked” on developing its program, allocating more budget, and applying for tree planting grants Bryan Moffat, Port Moody’s urban forestry supervisor.

Another factor contributing to the additional trees is that Port Moody finished a number of large capital projects in 2024 (like St. John’s multi-use pathway), which involved planting new trees.

Port Moody’s city council adopted its urban forestry strategy in September 2023. By 2050, its goals are to increase its city-wide canopy cover from 58 to 59 percent, and from 28 to 31 percent outside of parks and industrial lands. To obtain this, the goal is to plant 1,100 trees each year.

In April 2023, when council saw a draft of the strategy, Port Moody saw 350 new trees planted each year. With this approach, the city was on track to two percent of Port Moody’s city-wide canopy and four percent in urban areas by 2050.

“These report cards are reflective of how we’re doing and how we’re working towards achieving the goals,” said Moffat.

Tree canopy

Another metric the city plans to measure is the actual tree canopy — the amount of area covered from a birds eye view. The latest data the city has on its tree canopy is from 2019, based on LiDAR data from B.C, which is one of the most accurate methods of estimating a city’s tree canopy.

Large mature trees cut down can’t immediately be replaced by young trees. 

“A large mature tree is going to provide a lot more benefits to the community than a smaller tree that you might see planted,” said Moffot.

While Moffot said they are due for an update, they are waiting for either LiDAR data from the province or another technology to emerge that can accurately measure the canopy.

“We may be doing that a little sooner if the opportunity comes up,” said Julie Pavey-Tomlinson, Port Moody’s general manager of community services.