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![\"Becky](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4174905_web1_Jpg-4_Trees-on-private-property_make-up-most-of-Winnipeg-s-urban-forest_for-May-2_Becky.jpeg\")
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Becky Slater photo<\/p>\n
Eighty to 90 per cent of Winnipeg\u2019s three million trees are on private property. A private tree bylaw could help protect them.<\/p>\n
As a documentary filmmaker, Buffie worked with CBC\u2019s acclaimed series, The Nature of Things, for more than 20 years. She directed Smarty Plants, an award-winning 2012 documentary which uncovers the real secret world of plants. She also directed episodes of the incomparable Canadian documentary series, Recreating Eden, which ran for five seasons on CBC.<\/p>\n
Buffie writes that her love of the natural world began at her family\u2019s log cabin tucked into the boreal forest a few kilometres east of the Manitoba border with Ontario, but was also influenced by Winnipeg\u2019s West End neighbourhood. She and her partner have lived in Wolseley since 2010, a community known for its history of protecting mature trees.<\/p>\n
Buffie is the founder and former chair of Trees Please Winnipeg which was formed in the immediate aftermath of the devastating October 2019 ice storm. Thirty thousand trees on public property were damaged. Impacted trees on private property numbered in the tens of thousands.<\/p>\n
Perfect storm<\/p>\n
With the combination of the growing loss of our city\u2019s mature elm canopy and the arrival in 2017 of the emerald ash borer, a destructive pest that has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees in North America, it was a perfect storm magnified at the time by the city\u2019s lack of a fully funded, comprehensive urban forest strategy. <\/p>\n
This became the catalyst for a lobbying effort by Trees Please for a sustainable urban forestry budget.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Great Plains Press photo<\/p>\n Out on a Limb is the new book by Erna Buffie exploring the vital importance of urban forests.<\/p>\n In her book, Buffie makes a clear and detailed case for the critical role urban forests play in boosting climate resiliency and the immense benefits trees provide in our daily lives. She lays bare the stark reality of tree inequity where wealthy neighbourhoods have lush canopies and access to cooling shade but \u201ca lack of tree cover in neighbourhoods where incomes are low and racial diversity is high.\u201d<\/p>\n Trees are the gold standard for natural, inclusive beauty. Buffie asks, \u201cWhat can we do to climate-proof our neighbourhoods and create safe spaces for our fellow creatures? What do we want our cities to look like 25 or 50 years from now? How did we get so disconnected from nature and how do we turn that around?\u201d<\/p>\n She details the fight by citizen advocates as well as the need for urban woodlands such as Lemay Forest and Save our Seine. She shares her vision for a greener, more sustainable and biodiverse future. And she does not pull any punches on what our city\u2019s decision-makers need to do.<\/p>\n At the recent Trees Count Town Hall on April 20, which was hosted by Trees Please, Buffie told a packed audience of more than 100 people that Winnipeg is losing between 6,000 and 10,000 trees every year. In 2021, Winnipeg faced a significant tree backlog with only 19 to 20 per cent of removed public trees being replaced.<\/p>\n But thanks to groups like Trees Please, Trees Winnipeg and a network of 30 neighbourhood residents\u2019 associations that advocate for the city\u2019s urban forest, there has been a significant improvement in public tree replacement. Planting has increased to over 6,400 trees annually, nearly matching the 6,508 trees removed in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cBut here\u2019s the rub,\u201d says Buffie. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Erna Buffie photo<\/p>\n Ernie Buffie is a writer, environmental activist, documentary filmmaker, and self-professed tree hugger. Trees make her happy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are losing thousands of trees on private land, and those trees are not being counted. Eighty to 90 per cent of Winnipeg\u2019s three million trees sit on private land.\u201d<\/p>\n Oldest areas hit hardest<\/p>\n The biggest tree losses are happening in our city\u2019s oldest neighbourhoods, she said. In Buffie\u2019s neighbourhood alone, over 3,000 trees were lost between 2015 and 2021.<\/p>\n What\u2019s needed, says Buffie, is a private tree bylaw. But while the city is working on a consolidated public tree bylaw to protect trees on city property (on boulevards, in parks), there is no plan to create bylaws to protect private trees.<\/p>\n \u201cMore than 20 Canadian cities already have a private tree bylaw,\u201d said Buffie. A private tree bylaw regulates the cutting, injuring and indiscriminate removal of trees located on private property.<\/p>\n Trees Please is now planning to challenge candidates in the upcoming civic election to make a pledge to take specific actions to protect and maintain Winnipeg\u2019s urban forest.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Erna Buffie photo<\/p>\n Winnipeg\u2019s mature trees, like this majestic elm in the Wolseley neighbourhood, must be protected.<\/p>\n When I talked to Buffie following the Trees Count Town Hall, she said she was impressed by the number of people who attended. She was also grateful for the support of the many groups, including Climate Action Manitoba, Trees Winnipeg and Bird Friendly Cities, who set up information booths.<\/p>\n One of the key outcomes of the meeting, she said, was a discussion about how to reach more people with the message about trees. With the discovery in recent weeks of a significant new infestation of emerald ash borer affecting dozens of trees in Winnipeg\u2019s Glenwood area, Buffie says the real battle to save our urban canopy starts now.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need action immediately,\u201d she said. \u201cOne of the things we told city council over and over again is that we stood to lose 50 per cent of our urban canopy within a matter of decades because of the combination of Dutch elm disease and EAB. That threat still sits on the table. It\u2019s not an option to cut the budget. They\u2019re going to have to continue to add to the urban forestry budget.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\tWinnipeg Gardener<\/p>\n Monthly<\/p>\n What you need to know now about gardening in Winnipeg. An email with advice, ideas and tips to keep your outdoor and indoor plants growing.<\/p>\n \t\t\tSign up for Winnipeg Gardener<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t But every tree needs protection, she said, not only public trees. \u201cThere\u2019s a need for more public education about the value a single tree provides. Its value is enormous whether it is cleaning the air, sequestering carbon or preventing your basement from flooding, because tree roots absorb so much water. The services trees provide are astonishing.\u201d<\/p>\n Trees are one of the best natural defences against climate change our city has, says Buffie. \u201cIf we lose 50 per cent of our canopy, that places this city in a very vulnerable situation as temperatures continue to rise. We really need to start planting trees in our yards. In low-income neighbourhoods, the city has a responsibility to help people plant trees.\u201d<\/p>\n Are you planning to plant a tree this spring or want to learn more about the vital importance of urban forests? Pick up a copy of Out on a Limb at McNally Robinson Booksellers or Chapters Indigo. You will be inspired to plant and care for our shared urban forest.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Cat Gauthier photo<\/p>\n Citizen advocacy efforts helped save Lemay Forest from destruction.<\/p>\n Looking for affordably priced trees? Trees Winnipeg will offer a diverse selection of trees sourced from Manitoba-based farms at its annual Spring Releaf Sale. The online sale starts May 14. Pickup is scheduled for May 30 at Fort Whyte Buffalo Crossing. For more details, visit releaf.tw.<\/p>\n colleenizacharias@gmail.com<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Colleen Zacharias Colleen Zacharias writes about many aspects of gardening including trends, plant recommendations, and how-to information that is uniquely relevant to Prairie gardeners. She has written a column for the Free Press since 2010 and pens the monthly newsletter Winnipeg Gardener<\/a>. Read more about Colleen<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Colleen produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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Gardening columnist
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