Relationships Among Socioeconomic Factors, Percentage Forest Cover, and Tree Conservation Bylaws in Ontario Municipalities
Year: 2021
Type: other
Abstract: Urban tree bylaws can help to ensure that urban forest cover is being protected as the population and the built landscape increases. However, not all municipalities have tree bylaws to protect their forest cover and it is natural to ask: why might this be the case? Insight into the question might be gained by examining relationships between landcover and socioeconomic factors, and the variability of forest conservation bylaws. This paper investigated the presence of a forest-related bylaw and the inclusion of "Good Forestry Practice" within the bylaw as a function of 4 variables in Ontario's 412 lower and single-tier municipalities. The 4 predictor variables were: population density, average household income, percentage of residents with a postsecondary degree, and the percentage of residents who self-identify as immigrants. The results showed that municipalities with higher population densities had enacted tree bylaws, but most of these bylaws did not mention GFP, and such municipalities had high numbers of immigrants. It was also found that municipalities with higher forest cover were more likely to have no tree protection bylaws. Based on the list of laggard and champion municipalities generated, it is suggested that municipalities that have tree bylaws should reach out to their neighbour municipalities and encourage them to enact such bylaws and promote the health of their forests. There is also a need for collaboration on the part of all municipalities to standardize tree protection and the bylaws related to it across all Ontario municipalities.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Mehria Waqar
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3135037252