NEWS RELEASE

Turning Over a New Leaf: HRM and Dalhousie Researchers Team up for Trees

(Wednesday, June 14, 2010) - HRM is cooperating with a team from Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies (SRES) to help ensure the trees that define the streets, parks and properties in urban and suburban neighbourhoods have a long and healthy future.

When completed and approved by Regional Council, the HRM Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP) will be a strategic policy document that will help manage the urban forest in Halifax Regional Municipality over the next 25 years. The urban forest includes all trees within the urban and suburban areas of HRM, both on public and private land.

The Plan is intended to establish the values and benefits of long term care for trees in HRM; suggest changes to by-laws, regulations, policies, and processes for managing trees in urban and suburban HRM; identify areas of concern for HRM's urban forest; and raise awareness of the important role trees play in the life of the municipality and its residents.

The Dalhousie research team is led by Dr. Peter Duinker, a Professor and Director of the School for Resource and Environmental Studies in the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University.
Dr. Duinker is a scholar of forest management and policy, having studied these themes across Canada and in Europe. He specializes in environmental assessment, biodiversity conservation, public-engagement processes, climate change, and forest-management systems.

Dr. Duinker helped prepare the Point Pleasant Park Comprehensive Plan. He and his graduate
students are studying various aspects of urban sustainable forest management, with particular focus on forest sustainability in the face of climate change.

During the month of August the Dalhousie Research team and HRM will be hosting a series of public events at the Kenneth C. Rowe Building, 6100 University Avenue, on the Dalhousie Campus starting with an Urban Forest Walkabout led by Dr. Duinker on August 17, at 7:00 pm.

For more information on the Urban Forest Master Plan and upcoming events please visit the UFMP website at:

http://www.halifax.ca/RealPropertyPlanning/UFMP/index.html

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Contact:

Shaune MacKinlay
HRM Public Affairs490 6531

John Charles
HRM Real Property Planning
490 5771