Urban Forest Strategy

The City of Pitt Meadows is developing an Urban Forest Strategy and Implementation Plan for the long-term protection, improvement and management of the Urban Forest in Pitt Meadows. The Urban Forest Strategy will outline the community vision for the Urban Forest and provide objectives and actions on how to achieve that vision. The goal of this survey is to find out how you value the Urban Forest and how it should be managed to provide staff with an understanding of the community vision on this subject.

Terminology

Biodiversity – All the different kinds of life you will find in one area—the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms like bacteria that make up our natural world. 

Ecosystem Service – Defined broadly as the aspects of ecosystems that provide benefits to humans, such as water capture and filtration or air pollutant absorption.

Green Infrastructure – The natural vegetation, soils, and bioengineered solutions that collectively provide the community with a broad array of products and services for healthy living.

Permeable Area – Areas that allow water to percolate into soil to filter our pollutants and recharge the water table. Impermeable areas don't allow water to penetrate, forcing it to run off.

Tree Canopy Cover – The area covered by all deciduous and coniferous tree crowns (i.e. area occupied by leaves as viewed from above), as measured from the air, expressed as a percentage of total land area.

Urban Forest – Includes all the public and privately-owned trees, shrubs, and low growing vegetation in the urban and rural areas of Pitt Meadows.

Urban Heat Island Effect – The urban heat island effect happens because the closely packed buildings and paved surfaces that make up our cities amplify and trap heat far more effectively than natural ecosystems and rural areas, which are often shaded by trees and vegetation and cooled by evaporating moisture. In addition, cities also generate their own heat, which is released from sources such as furnaces, air conditioners, and vehicles.

This survey will take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete.