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The Urban Forest Master Plan: Get Ready for Spring 2013 Planting!
Five urban forest neighbourhood have been selected to take part in a pilot program to significantly increase the number of street trees in HRM. Click on the following areas to see where the new trees will be planted:
Colby Village,Connaught/Quinpool,Eastern Passage, Fairview and North End Halifax.
The pilot program will include improved tree care and maintenance programs. A variety of hardy native tree species will be selected. In years to come these trees will beautify their urban forest neighbourhoods and grow tall to form a protective canopy cover.
Planting starts in April and will continue throughout the spring. The UFMP website will be updated on a regular basis to help you stay informed about upcoming UFMP activities and events.
Urban Forest Master Plan Approved by Regional Council
On Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012, Halifax Regional Council approved in principle HRM's urban forest master plan. The UFMP was developed in cooperation with Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies (SRES)
after many years of research, public engagement, workshops and reports. A research team under the leadership of Dr. Peter Duinker conducted studies on issues ranging from UFMP best practices to the potential impacts of climate change effects on urban forests. HRM and Dalhousie staff contributed to the extensive forest inventory, mapping and writing efforts required in the creation of the UFMP.
The overall goal of the UFMP is to ensure a sustainable future for our urban forest. The multiyear community engagement process and research initiatives that led to the development of the Plan resulted in an integrated social, ecological, and economic strategy that strives to incorporate the values of HRM citizens.
Funding for the Urban Forest Master Plan will be put forward in the draft budget for the 2013/14 fiscal year.
What is an urban forest?
Our urban forest includes all trees - from a single maple in a planter, to a row of elms lining a downtown street, to carefully tended pines in residential backyards, to islands of native forest amidst urban development. Their natural diversity and their interconnectedness with human activities and the built environment make urban forests both complex and dynamic.
Where is our urban forest?
The urban forest extends approximately 15 km outwards from the Halifax Harbour and is geographically defined by HRM communities that receive water and wastewater services.
Communities receiving these services generally feature the types of compact development and nearby urban centre amenities usually associated with urban living. HRM’s urban forest can be seen as a seamless natural resource that spans all public and private properties in the serviced communities of Bedford, Beechville, Lakeside, Timberlea, Cole Harbour, Dartmouth, Eastern Passage, Halifax Mainland, Halifax Peninsula,
Sackville, and Spryfield.
HRM staff from Real Property Planning and Transportation and Public Works are working with a team from Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies (SRES) to develop the Urban Forest Master Plan. The Dalhousie research team is led by Dr. Peter Duinker, Director of SRES, and includes his graduate research students
The following is a sample of the work completed to date.
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Tree inventories and environmental benefits reports are complete (2007-2008).
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UFMP values, objectives, indicators, targets and actions (VOITs) have been developed (2010).
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Public engagement activities (urban forest walks, focus group workshops) were conducted and documented during 2010 and 2011.
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Research has been conducted on issues such as UFMP best practices, climate change effects on urban forests, carbon sequestration, and urban/wildland interface fires (2010-2012).
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Canopy coverage and land use in the urban forest has been mapped (2011).
- First, Second and Third UFMP Drafts have been produced (2011-12).
- Four public engagement workshops have been conducted (2012).
- An online survey has taken place (2012).
Third Draft - HRM Urban Forest Master Plan
Third Draft HRM UFMP - August 2012 [PDF 9 KB]
Your questions, comments and corrections are welcome. Please e-mail us at: ufmp@halifax.ca
 Benefits of Trees
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