A crane is seen at a condo development under construction as condo and office towers fill the downtown skyline in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday March 30, 2018. (Darryl Dyck/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Vancouver hosts global conference of city greening experts

More than 700 urban greening experts from around the world have gathered in Vancouver for what’s being billed by organizers as the world’s largest international conference on protecting and preserving urban green spaces.

The three-day International Urban Forestry Congress (IUFC 2018) began Monday under the title ‘The Urban Forest – Diverse in Nature‘ and will look into the challenges of preserving urban green spaces as more and more people move to urban areas.

It is estimated that 54 per cent of the world’s population now lives in cities and that proportion is expected to grow to 66 per cent by 2050.

However, most cities are still losing trees and green spaces due to climate change, invasive pests, development, and densification.

Focus on diversity

People are caught in rays of sunlight as they run and walk along the Stanley Park seawall near Siwash Rock in Vancouver, B.C., on Sunday August 25, 2013. (Darryl Dyck/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The conference in Vancouver will focus on the importance of diversity in terms of using a wider range of trees and other species to make cities more ‘climate proof,’ organizers said.

The event will include a variety of keynote speaking sessions, workshops, field trips and even a tree climbing competition.

“We have succeeded in bringing together many of the world’s leading thinkers in green city thinking and implementation,” said in a statement program chair Cecil Konijnendijk, professor of urban forestry at University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Faculty of Forestry.

“Cities urgently need to address greening in the face of increasing climate and other challenges.”

Prominent speakers

Canadian keynote speakers include Liberal MP Joyce Murray, and UBC professor Suzanne Simard, whose work on the underground communication of trees inspired the recent bestseller ‘The Secret Life of Trees’ and resulted in a TED Talk seen by millions.

International speakers include professor Chris Baines, one of the United Kingdom’s leading independent environmentalists and an award-winning writer and broadcaster, Dr. John Gathright, Founder of Tree Climbing Japan, and Jeremy Barrell, director of Barrell Tree Consultancy.

Canadian-born John Gathright will introduce his work with what he calls ‘therapeutic tree climbing’ in Japan, which has has grown into a national organization with 4,000 certified tree climbers who have helped over 250,000 people of all abilities to climb trees in urban forests and green spaces.

The congress is a partnership between Tree Canada’s Canadian Urban Forest Conference (CUFC), the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture’s (PNW-ISA) Annual Training Conference and the Urban Tree Diversity Conference (UTD).

Categories: Environment & Animal Life, Society
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