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VIDEO: Holding the City of Kelowna to its 80,000-tree goal

The Kelowna Tree Protectors are looking for public support before a public meeting on the subject of our urban forest.

The City of Kelowna's parks department will be on hand at the meeting later this month, to dig into its new 2024 Sustainable Urban Forest Strategy.

The strategy calls for 80,000 trees to be planted by 2050, and the Tree Protectors want the public's help to ensure the goal is reached.

"That actually means 3,200 trees per year," said Bev Kalmakoff with Kelowna Tree Protectors.

One challenge standing in the way of that goal is that most of our tree canopy is on private land, so where are all those trees going to go?

That's where the general public and private property owners are going to have to help.

"Because 78% of our trees are on private property," said Kalmakoff.

<who>Photo credit: KelownaNow </who>

Currently, Kelowna's tree canopy covers an estimated 22% of the total area.

As we work to protect and improve that, the urban areas will be the biggest challenge.

"Especially downtown," she said. "The goal is to have a 25% tree canopy throughout the city, but the downtown area is more like 10%.

If you walk down there in the summertime and you notice, there's just no shade."

She encourages residents to take advantage of the City of Kelowna's Neighbourwoods program which offers six varieties of trees for people to plant on their own properties for just $50.

And there will likely be other opportunities as the city begins the pursuit of this 80,000 tree goal.

"Look at the street that you live on," Kalmakoff suggests. "What's it like? How many street trees do you have? What's it like to walk down the sidewalk?"

And here's a tip.

<who>Photo credit: KelownaNow </who>

"You can call the city of Kelowna. If you've got space in front of your house that is on city property that can hold a tree, they'll come and put one in for you at no cost. I have one in front of my house."

Kalmakoff said the city is already placing more demands on developers to do their part through landscape plans.

"When a developer comes in and takes out a single-family unit and puts in a fourplex, there's a requirement for trees around that," she said.

"The city is doing its part in a much better way than they used to."

The public meeting is scheduled for 6 pm January 21, at the downtown Kelowna Branch of the Okanagan Regional Library.



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