2414 Community Events Devon joins an international network of cities dedicated to fostering the best urban forestry practices The Town of Devon joins the international programme, Tree Cities of the World, to highlight its dedication to growing and maintaining its city's urban forestry efforts. The Arbor Day Foundation is the world's largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Both organizations came together in 2019 to found Tree Cities of the World. The programme is a global effort to recognise cities and towns committed to ensuring that their urban forests and trees are properly maintained, sustainably managed, and duly celebrated. “Trees are important to people, no matter what country they are from or what language they speak, said Dan Lambe, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “We all want to live in a city that is healthy, resilient, and beautiful – trees serve as a common language to make that possible. Being recognised in the Tree Cities of the World programme means that your city is committing to go above and beyond to define trees as critical green infrastructure for your citizens.” Planting trees in a metropolitan area comes with a myriad of benefits beyond the recognition of this programme. Increasing the number of trees in a community can help reduce costs for energy, stormwater management, and erosion control. In addition, the programme provides a network of like-minded city leaders in urban forestry to celebrate and share best practices to cultivate greenery in the community. Tree Cities of the World aims to create more green spaces in urban areas by recognising the cities that do it well. “It is an honor to be named one of 2021’s Tree Cities of the World and be one of the 18 Towns/Cities recognized for this in Canada by the Arbor Day Foundation,” said Jeff Craddock, Mayor for the Town of Devon. “We have such an active volunteer base here in Devon that committed 3,000 hours to beautifying our community while also planting 127 trees and I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your contributions that led to Devon receiving this recognition on the world stage.” Devon has earned recognition as a Tree City in the programme’s third year. To earn Tree Cities of the World recognition, Devon demonstrated its commitment by meeting five programme standards: establish responsibility for the care of trees, set rules to govern the management of forests and trees, maintain an updated inventory or assessment of local tree resources, allocate resources for a tree management plan, and hold an annual celebration of trees to educate residents. More information on the program is available at https://treecitiesoftheworld.org/. About the Arbor Day Foundation Founded in 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation has grown to become the largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees, with more than one million members, supporters and valued partners. Since 1972, almost 500 million Arbor Day Foundation trees have been planted in neighborhoods, communities, cities and forests throughout the world. Our vision is to lead toward a world where trees are used to solve issues critical to survival. As one of the world's largest operating conservation foundations, the Arbor Day Foundation, through its members, partners and programs, educates and engages stakeholders and communities across the globe to involve themselves in its mission of planting, nurturing and celebrating trees. More information is available at arborday.org. Share Print