LANGFORD – Langford Council was presented with the final Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP) at the November 18th Council Meeting and has approved the Plan. The UFMP details the current extent and condition of Langford’s urban forest and establishes a strategic framework to meet the vision, target, and goals for Langford’s urban forest over the next 25 years, as informed by public feedback and urban forestry best practices.
The UFMP includes 14 strategies, 65 actions, 16 priority actions, and seven quick start actions for the City to implement in order to meet the broad aspirations of the Plan to:
- Achieve a balance between urban growth and enhancing Langford’s urban forest.
- Ensure every resident has equitable access to the many benefits provided by the urban forest.
- Maintain healthy urban forests that can withstand and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
The actions are focussed on sustaining the urban forest through strategic long-term community planning, planting more trees in low equity and low canopy areas, enhancing maintenance practices and planting standards to maximize urban forest benefits to the community, prioritizing sustainable and evidence-based urban forest management, and leveraging opportunities to develop community partnerships and capacity to achieve better urban forest outcomes across the city.
As part of this meeting, Council also advanced two of the seven quick start actions of the UFMP, which are the highest priority actions that will have a significant impact on the success of the UFMP. The first action is the creation of a new City Arborist position, and the second is the implementation of a Tree Protection Bylaw.
The Tree Protection Bylaw received first, second, and third readings during the November 18th Council meeting, and is intended to replace the interim bylaw that has been in place for the last two years. The Tree Protection Bylaw has been designed to balance the protection of tree resources with the regulation of private property. The design and structure of the Bylaw reflects tree bylaw best practices, addresses gaps in the administration of the interim bylaw, and incorporates community priorities and public feedback.
Phase One of the UFMP public engagement began last November, seeking community input and insights to inform the vision and strategic directions of the draft UFMP. Phase Two engagement was initiated in July this year, seeking further community feedback on the proposed draft plan before its final presentation to Council for adoption.
Source: The City of Langford
