Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia provides funding for Tree Canopy Research

Project will quantify rainfall interception of single trees and small stands in an urban environment

The Real Estate Foundation is the latest organization to provide funding for the Tree Canopy Research Project that is being undertaken by the University of British Columbia in partnership with municipalities in the Greater Vancouver Region. This research will directly inform urban planning and will be used to populate the Water Balance Model with performance data for rainfall interception by the tree canopy in an urban forest..

A four-way collaboration has been established under the umbrella of the Inter-Governmental Partnership (IGP) that developed the Water Balance Model. The Greater Vancouver Regional District and Ministry of Community Services are providing funding, and the University of British Columbia and District of North Vancouver are making in-kind contributions in carrying out the applied research project. The District of North Vancouver is acting on behalf of the IGP in leading this on-the-ground initiative.

“We are excited to have the Real Estate Foundation on board as a funder”, reports Richard Boase, the District of North Vancouver’s project manager. “The Real Estate Foundation was an early supporter of the Water Balance Model. In fact, it was a grant from the Foundation in 2003 that made it possible to immediately make the Water Balance Model an Internet-accessible tool. Anybody with a computer can use it”, adds Boase.

According to Tim Pringle, Executive Director of the Real Estate Foundation, “Our Governors have supported development of the Water Balance Model because this on-the-ground tool fits with the Foundation’s mission to support sustainable real estate and land use practices for the benefit of British Columbians.”