Street trees study in Moncton about to blossom

Preliminary findings from a study about Moncton's street trees found most of those surveyed found street trees are important to them.

A report by students in the University of New Brunswick's forest management program is looking at four aspects of the city's trees — their health, as well as social, economic and environmental impacts.

The final report will come out in March. It will include an inventory of all the street trees in the city and recommendations for the city.

Preliminary findings from a survey carried out as part of the study were presented to city officials Friday.

"We got 485 responses, which is awesome," said Jacob Outram, who is primarily involved with the environmental components of the study.

"Over 60 per cent of the population is saying street trees are either important or very important to them, for budget allocations."

He says people are starting to understand the benefits of street trees, from better air quality, to increased property value.

A real-life project

Outram and James Wishart, a classmate, have both worked on the ground, pruning trees for a summer job, but this assignment is bringing them a new kind of experience.

"We're submitting this to a client," said Wishart. "It's nice to know we had a helping hand in furthering their infrastructure."

"We're working hands-on with the City of Moncton and it's a real-life project," said Outram.

Professor Jasen Golding says he thinks the city is happy.

"They're really excited, they like what we've shown them."

There have been 11 students involved with this project.