Trees of Greater Victoria

Introduction
The ultimate goal of this project is to foster a love of nature so that people will be compelled to act to preserve natural things. Education can be a useful tool to encourage a society to preserve and protect. We can only value what we know and understand.

Our objective is to create a web site that:
1) Has interactive maps that show the location and identification of significant or historical trees in the lower Vancouver Island area (greater Victoria, Sidney, Colwood, Langford, British Columbia, Canada). 
2) Has detailed information on the origin, how to identify, medicinal uses, and unique characteristics of each tree species.
3) Individual maps and tree locations for specific parks that are rich in significant tree species.
4) Photographs showing each tree and the important characters for identification.


Horticultural Trees
We are fortunate living in Victoria to have preserved and protected many unique native habitats, but those natural habitats are not the only green spaces in the city. Often we overlook the importance of horticultural plantings that contribute to the beauty of the urban environment.   

While walking the streets and parks of Greater Victoria you may encounter many beautiful trees. If you were to ask “What is this tree?” you may get a surprising answer.  While Vancouver Island has only thirty-four species of native trees, those in an urban environment could be plantings from anywhere in the world. The tree you are admiring could be a Blue Atlas Cedar from Atlas Mountains of Morocco, a Deodar Cedar from the western Himalayas, or even a Dawn Redwood, a tree only know from fossils until it’s rediscovery in China in 1944. The vast diversity of possible origins greatly complicates the task of identifying trees in an urban environment. Imagine the difficulty trying to identify an oak that may be one of 600 oak species in the world.

This scenario presents the first problem that this project will address. That is the difficulty in identifying species of horticultural trees that may originate from anywhere in the world. Indeed most people would find it difficult to locate a field guide that would contain all of these exotic species.

Historical Trees
As part of our environment, trees can acquire importance beyond their biological role. There are many such trees in the Greater Victoria area. Some were planted as a memorial to historical events; others gained significance as local landmarks because of their size, formation, or by their utility.

The “Cougar Tree” at 1550 Ash Road was once on the Tod farm and had a fork that was a convenient perch for children watching over herds of sheep. Another historical tree is the “Begbie Oak” at 520 Cook Street, once the home of the famous “Hanging Judge” Begbie.  in addition, over 249 “Coronation Oaks” (English oaks)  from Greater Windsor Park in Windsor, Berkshire were planted in Victoria and the surrounding area in 1937 to commemorate the coronation of King George VI. Some historical trees are designated with plaques but many others are not marked and are difficult to locate.

Recording their significance and locating these historical and heritage trees will ensure the protection of these valued artefacts.

Native trees and habitats
The preservation of native trees and habitats in the Greater Victoria is of prime importance. Much has already been done to designate and protect the last remaining native Garry Oak Ecosystems.  What remains is to document and locate other examples of native trees and habitat. Among these other species are Big Leaf maple, giant Cottonwood, Arbutus, Douglas firs, Grand firs, hemlocks and Western Red Cedar trees. These trees, although they may not have historical or horticultural significance or be the largest of their kind, represent the native species which were once more numerous in the Greater Victoria Area.

Digital Information Value
·         Creating a digital archive allows the data to be used for other projects and updated in future. A MS Access database will be compatible with or transferrable to, other applications including any pre-existing GIS applications.
·         A digital archive allows for future use of the information in a variety of ways (continued utility) without the need to repeat effort.


Tourism, Natural History & Interpretive Value

Biological and historical data will be easily available to Parks staff and Interpreters who can search the database for specific information such as:
o   location of species
o   how to identify species
o   plan interpretive walks

Public users of the web site could:
o   View a map which shows the locations of all the trees (elements) in the database.
o   Select a tree and view ata associated with that entry.
      - common name
      - genus and species
      - Identification features and photos
      - geographic origin
      - historical significance
      - horticultural values
      - life history notes
o   Create self-guided tour maps of specific areas.

Current status February 2017:
We have the basic web site online, but the bulk of the information and specific tree data, photographs, and identification information, is yet to be done. See treesofvictoria.com
The City of Victoria supplied data for 32,700 street trees that are now plotted on the site and for an additional 1,000 trees in Ross Bay Cemetery. There are no  identifications or locations of street trees for the municipalities of Oak Bay, Saanich, Royal Oak, View Royal, Colwood, Langford and Sidney.  Considering the number of street trees in Victoria, we have to locate and identify and another 50,000 trees or more in the remaining municipalities.

Other than the street trees, we rquire photographers to record images of each of the designated Heritage trees, as well as representative of each unique species in the data base (over 340 unique species). We also require identification photographs showing specific and seasonal characteristics of  each tree species. 

In addition to photographs, research needs to be conducted on each tree species, tree profiles written, and identification keys developed.