‘Branching out’: Calgarians claim 2,000 trees to grow canopy
Global News
Registration on Thursday only lasted 34 minutes due to the high demand.
The City of Calgary’s expanded “Branching Out” program is now closed after 2,000 trees were claimed by Calgary home owners.
Five hundred trees were available to interested citizens in each of the city’s four quadrants through an application process. The northeast was the last quadrant to access to apply for the program.
Registration on Thursday only lasted 34 minutes due to the high demand.
“We’re super excited to see the level of interest and demand from Calgarians,” said Mike Mahon, City of Calgary urban forestry lead. “We hope to continue to monitor and expand (the program), and look forward to scaling it up over the next couple of years.”
The program aims to expand the city’s tree canopy by planting trees on private property. Calgary’s canopy is currently at 8.25 per cent, but the goal is to expand the coverage to 16 per cent. About 70 per cent of the canopy is made up by trees on private land.
The canopy isn’t divided equally through all four quadrants. Communities in the northeast like Falconridge, Saddletowne and CityScape only have a coverage of approximately 2 per cent, prompting some residents to question the equity of the city’s tree planting.
“When you go to other areas and compare it to the northeast, you see it’s not enough,” said Farhana Raza, a northeast resident. “Parks for sure have way less trees than required.”
“I think we should get some more trees and get some nicer trees in the area,” said Stephanie Dunham, who has lived in the northeast her whole life. “We have some dog parks here and it would be nice to see some trees, maybe along the roads here like McKnight.”