Trees are essential infrastructure in our towns and cities, say urban foresters
There are more trees in Canada than in any other country on the planet, except for Russia.
Most of our forests are in the wilderness, but we also enjoy — and depend on — the green canopies of our cities and towns. Urban forests clean our air, lower our stress levels, reduce our energy costs and mitigate the risk of floods. Little wonder that urban foresters are now promoting trees as a critical part of a city's infrastructure, as essential as roads and sewers.
Guest host Gillian Findlay ventured to the Mississauga campus of the University of Toronto to speak with three tree experts, as they sat in the shadow of a nearby forest. They were speakers at a conference called The Urban Forest of Tomorrow, organized by Urban Forest Innovations.
Guests for this program:
- Cecil Konijnendijk has consulted and taught around the globe. He is now a professor of Urban Forestry at the University of British Columbia.
- David Callow heads the Urban Forest and Ecology department of Melbourne, one of the greenest cities in Australia, with a successful Citizen Forester Program.
- Meaghan Eastwood is Senior Research Scientist for the Toronto and Regional Conservation Authority, which manages more than 34 million trees.
Click 'listen' at the top of the page to hear the full discussion with guest host Gillian Findlay.
