- Toronto’s urban forest is made up of all the trees in our city, including those in our yards, on our streets, in our ravines, and in our parks.
- Toronto’s urban forest provides the equivalent of $28.2 million in ecological services each year
- Toronto has approximately 26.6-28% forest cover representing 10.2 million trees.
- The 10 most common species account for 57.7% of the total trees in the population. Approximately 64% of the 116 tree species sampled are native to Ontario.
- The average tree diameter in Toronto is 16.3 cm. Only 14% of Toronto’s trees are greater than 30.6 cm in diameter.
- Research has shown that the ideal tree cover in a city is 40%
- The City of Toronto plants over 100,000 trees annually on public lands (i.e. parks, green spaces and streets).
- Of the total population, 6% are City street trees, 34% are trees in City parks and natural areas and 60% grow on private property.
- The distribution of tree cover across Toronto is uneven. Many of the city’s trees are concentrated in Toronto’s ravine system or valley lands.
- There is an imbalance of tree cover in neighbourhoods across our city; community groups such as the LBNA getting involved in private land tree planting can help address this imbalance.
- Trees are reaching the end of their lifespans in many of Toronto’s older neighbourhoods.
- Tree care and timely replacement is critical to maintaining tree cover in our city.
Here’s What Trees Do For Us
- The benefits derived from the urban forest significantly exceed the annual cost of management.
- Toronto’s trees store 1.1 million metric tonnes of carbon annually or the equivalent of annual carbon emissions from 733,000 automobiles.
- Gross carbon sequestration by trees in Toronto is estimated at 46,700 metric tons of carbon per year with an associated value of $1.3 million. Net carbon sequestration in the urban forest is 36,500 metric tons.
- Trees affect energy consumption by shading buildings, providing evaporative cooling, and blocking winter winds. Toronto’s urban forest is estimated to reduce energy use from heating and cooling of residential buildings by 41,200 MWH ($9.7million/year).
- Toronto’s urban forest improves air quality, intercepting 1,430 metric tonnes of air pollutants annually (the equivalent value of $16.1 million/year).
- Urban tree canopy helps to mitigate storm water runoff. Simulations that doubled the tree canopy in the Don watershed indicate a 2.5% decrease in overall flow.
- A 75cm (30″) tree in Toronto intercepts ten times more air pollution, can store up to 90 times more carbon and contributes up to 100 times more leaf area to the City’s tree canopy than a 15cm (6″) tree.
- Simulating removal of impervious cover in the watershed reduces total flow by an average of 23.8%.