“This article makes important comparisons between stormwater management in the US and Canada. Although both are moving toward greater use of green infrastructure, the differences in approach are significant…. and practitioners in the US can learn a great deal from BC’s approach,” stated Janice Kaspersen.
The City of North Vancouver’s Rain Garden Program is a foundation piece for a long-term vision for restoring watershed health in a fully urbanized city. “A single rain garden will not make a material difference. But 1000s of rain gardens would be a different story. Restoring stream health requires a long-term commitment over decades by the community, successive Councils and City staff. We can turn the situation around over time,” says Mayor Darrell Mussatto.
Tim Pringle coined the phrase ecological accounting protocol to make clear the distinction vis-à-vis ecological economics. “The purpose of the proposed accounting protocol is to enable comparison of engineered infrastructure to natural systems by means of common units of measurement and value,” states Tim Pringle. The need for measurement and valuation is paramount.”
At the World Forum held in Scotland last November, Emanuel Machado shared the story of the Town of Gibsons Eco-Asset Strategy with an international audience. “After two exciting days, I walked away with a sense that we in Canada, and BC in particular, are heading in the right direction and, perhaps, even leading in some ways. In terms of how best to address natural capital in the context of cities and urban areas, Canada is ahead of the game.”
“Salmon-Safe is now active across the entire Pacific Northwest region with more than 38,000 hectares of urban and agricultural land certified from Northern California to British Columbia. Following introduction to BC in 2011, Salmon-Safe has certified more than 45 agricultural properties and recently in 2015 certified the first urban site in BC – the Mountain Equipment Co-Op (MEC) Head Office in Vancouver,” stated Naomi Robert.
“Looking into the future, collaboratively developed Water Sustainability Plans can integrate water and land use planning and can be combined with other local, regional or provincial planning processes to address water-related issues. “The scale and scope of each plan – and the process used to develop it – would be unique, and would reflect the needs and interests of the watersheds affected,” states Jennifer Vigano.
“If Australians are obsessed with property prices, they should welcome investment in green infrastructure, because it is unambiguously good for their real estate values. Consensus among Australia’s leading urban green space experts from the private, government and academic sectors suggests that neighbourhood greenery has a positive influence on the value of a property, and research is beginning to back that up,” wrote James Dunn.
“If we make a certain investment, what are the long-term non-financial, social returns we can get from that? We’re thinking about this as an economy, and the framework is a way to try to put a dollar value on the things that can come with green infrastructure – because its role and value has not been well understood in Australia, certainly when compared to more established ‘grey’ infrastructure,” said Professor Roger Jones.
Urban climate researcher Professor Nigel Tapper, from Monash University, said there was strong evidence that a green, leafy park, tree-lined street or urban waterway could drop the local temperatures by several degrees. Just as households and industries, the vegetation in our cities depends on water, he said.
“An urban forest strategy needs to protect what we’ve got and match up the locations of greatest need, or urban hot spots, and development activity with benefits, costs and risks,” said Lyndal Plant. “The strategy also needs to address the challenges of diminishing space on private land in our growing city and do more to integrate trees into the design and renewal of sites, streets, infrastructure projects, centres and suburbs."
