Winnipeg’s Strategy for a Healthy Urban Forest and What the Public Can Do to Help – Manitoba Master Gardener Association
MMGA presents: Martha Barwinsky, Winnipeg’s City Forrester
Wednesday, Novembers 20, 2024
7:00 p.m. CST via Zoom.
In December 2023, after a multiyear process of public engagement, Winnipeg City Council approved the city’s Comprehensive Urban Forest Strategy. We know that pests such as Dutch elm disease and emerald ash borer could reduce Winnipeg’s street and park tree population by as much as 50% by 2065, and the presence and well-being of the urban forest are challenged as the city continues to develop outwards and inwards.
Faced with these threats, the strategy aims to stabilise and increase the city’s tree canopy over the next 20-40 years by implementing better protection, planting and maintenance practices – including improving the protection of existing trees, pruning more frequently, replacing lost trees on at least a 1:1 basis, and increasing species diversity. The strategy also calls for engaging organizations and individuals to partner in forest planting and management.
Along with reviewing the strategy, Martha will suggest what those partnerships might look like.