We have seen an exponential increase in the research and resulting documentation of the Ecosystem Services benefits our urban trees can provide with a resulting increased interest in quantifying those benefits and in expanding the Urban Forest resource.
In order to establish a basis for quantifying and /or expanding, we have tended to look at canopy cover as a way to determine the Urban Forest’s extent. That 2-dimensional measurement of the resource only provides a small sampling of essential data and the criteria necessary to adequately manage the Urban Forest resource.
We have selected as an example of a criteria-based approach, a Strategic Management Planning scenario adopted by Canada, first through a national Canadian Urban Forest Strategy, initiated in 2006, followed by a sampling from communities across the breadth and depth of Canada that have adopted the national call to action and created their own community-oriented versions of Urban Forest Strategic Management Plans.
Examples of Urban Forest Management / Strategic Plans
http://www.cufn.ca/canadian-urban-forest-strategy
http://www.oakville.ca/assets/general%20-%20residents/2008UFSMP.pdf
https://www1.toronto.ca/City%20Of%20Toronto/Parks%20Forestry%20&%20Recreation/Urban%20Forestry/Files/pdf/B/backgroundfile-55258.pdf
http://documents.ottawa.ca/sites/documents.ottawa.ca/files/documents/ufmp_pres_en.pdf