The City's first-ever Urban Forest Management Strategy was published on July 24, 2024.
Maple Ridge boasts a thriving, resilient, and climate-adapted urban forest that is essential to community health and well-being, provides high-value recreational opportunities, supports ecological health and biodiversity, offers cost-effective climate solutions, and improves livability for all residents.
The Urban Forest Management Strategy (UFMS) outlines comprehensive measures to sustainably manage and expand Maple Ridge's vital green spaces and tree canopy in the context of urban development and climate challenges.
Community Engagement
In fall 2023 and spring 2024 Maple Ridge engaged extensively with residents through two rounds of community engagement, gathering valuable feedback to shape the strategy. Nearly 1,000 participants contributed insights through surveys, open houses, and virtual forums, underscoring the community’s commitment to environmental stewardship.
Thank you to those that provided input towards developing the strategy and feedback on the draft strategy. Your comments were important to setting up a shared vision and priorities for urban forest management in Maple Ridge.
Phase 2 (March 2024): What We Learned - Summary Infographic:
Phase 1 (September - October 2023)
Click HERE to view the Phase 1 summary
Project Timeline
Work on the Urban Forest Management Strategy project begun in March 2023 and is being completed in phases.
Background
Our urban forest includes the wonderful array of trees, shrubs, and green spaces that thrive in our cityscape. It is a natural oasis right within our urban environment and is integral to keeping our community happy, resilient, and healthy.
Our urban forest is essential to the community’s character, biodiversity, climate resilience, health and well-being. To ensure our community maximizes the benefits supplied by our urban forest, we are in the process of developing an Urban Forest Management Strategy to guide the long-term protection, management and enhancement of our urban forest.
The Urban Forest Management Strategy will:
- Assess the current urban forest conditions in Maple Ridge,
- Establish a community-supported 20-year vision and goals for Maple Ridge’s urban forest,
- Provide policies and strategic actions to protect, maintain, and grow the urban forest for generations to come.
For additional information refer to our March 1, 2024 news release.
The City of Maple Ridge comprises a lively urban core surrounded by lush natural spaces including parks, wetlands, and farmland. Trees, other vegetation, soil and the associated processes in these areas form Maple Ridge's urban forest.
The urban forest is a living asset, contributing to the quality of life by cleaning the air and water, shading and cooling streets and buildings, supporting biodiversity and providing habitat, offering high-value recreational opportunities, and supporting the local economy.
However, Maple Ridge's urban forest faces growing stress from climate change impacts like drought, intense storm weather, pest and diseases. Additionally, accommodating urban growth for a growing population could lead to less desirable growing space for trees and challenge the Official Community Plan's tree retention policy.
To address these concerns, the City of Maple Ridge aims to create an Urban Forest Management Strategy. This strategy will provide a clear, long-term vision for urban forest growth and management over the next two decades. The UFMS will offer guidance for the short (5 years), medium (5-15 years), and long-term (15+ years), aligning with the city's strategic goals and relevant policies, including the Official Community Plan.
Level of Engagement - Involve
The engagement for this project is at the "involve" level of the International Association for Public Participation's (IAP2) Spectrum of Public Participation. This means that we will work with you (the public) to ensure that your concerns and aspirations are directly reflected in the project. We will also provide feedback on how public input influenced the decision.
Learn more about how we use the Spectrum as a foundation for community engagement here!
Translations
There is an automatic translation tool available at the top-right of this page. Languages include: Traditional Chinese [繁體中文], Simplified Chinese [简体中文] Punjabi [ਪੰਜਾਬੀ], Filipino [Tagalog], Vietnamese [Tiếng Việt], French [Français], Korean [한국어], Japanese [日本語], Spanish [Español] and more.
Please Note: Google Translate is a third-party service and we cannot guarantee the quality or accuracy of the translated content. If you require additional support, email engage@mapleridge.ca.
Public Survey #1
Public Survey #2
Public Survey #2 closed on March 24, 2024. Thank you to those who participated.
The Survey has now concluded.
Public Survey #1
Public Survey #1 is closed. Thank you for your feedback!
