2020.IE11.1

Background

Every Tree Counts: A Portrait of Toronto's Urban Forest was first published in 2010 and subsequently revised in 2013. Toronto's first-ever tree canopy assessment provided necessary baseline data to help the City make management decisions to meet urban forestry objectives. The 2008 canopy study made use of two distinct approaches to quantitatively determine the extent and distribution of urban forest cover: (1) the manual photo-interpretation of land cover class for approximately 10,000 randomly distributed sample points using 2009 leaf-on aerial imagery, and (2) a forest cover estimate derived through a semi-automated land cover classification process using 2007 leaf-on satellite imagery. 

Toronto's canopy cover was estimated to be between 26.6 and 28 percent. The random point sampling method estimated 26.6 percent canopy cover while the semi-automated land cover classification method estimated 28 percent canopy cover. The semi-automated method included post-classification manual corrections by USDA Forest Service staff. 

Tree canopy studies of this kind are an important part of the adaptive management cycle for Urban Forestry. They allow City staff to work with reliable data to adjust program activities that reflect the changing nature of the urban forest and evolving management issues. 

Source: City of Toronto

Item Description

The 2018 Tree Canopy Study provides an update to Toronto’s first tree canopy study, Every Tree Counts: A Portrait of Toronto’s Urban Forest, published by the City of Toronto in 2010, and later updated in 2013. A decade has passed since the original study was undertaken. The 2018 update offers an opportunity to evaluate what has changed in Toronto’s urban forest over the ten-year period. This type of tree canopy study is an important part of the adaptive management cycle for Urban Forestry. It allows City staff to work with up-to-date and reliable data to adjust program activities that reflect the changing nature of the urban forest and evolving management issues. 

Source: City of Toronto

Proposed by

Infrastructure and Environment Committee