Stanley Park’s trees are struggling as drought conditions and a looper moth outbreak have combined to wreak havoc on the population.
The dead trees are spurring calls for the park board to start preparing for the worst.
Even more concerning, the Vancouver Park Board hasn’t updated its forest fire risk mitigation plan for the park since 2009.
The 2009 report predicted that the hemlock looper moth posed a substantial risk to the forest — a risk that has become a reality in the past three years.
“About 20 per cent of the standing tree canopy is dead trees,” said Tom Digby, a Vancouver Park Board commissioner.
“The whole city is anxious about what that could mean for possible combustibility and fire in the park.”
In the past 14 years, plenty of new and growing threats have emerged in the form of insects, wind storms, and drier conditions.
“There are many of us … I’ve been talking to a lot of people … we’re very concerned Stanley Park could be the next forest to go up (in flames),” Digby said.
If a new risk management plan isn’t completed soon, there is fear that a Stanley Park fire would be devastating.
“I was shocked at the fact that there was a substantial gap in the amount of time (since) the last assessment and what has not been done,” said Francis Klimo, an arborist.
“Once we surpassed 10 years, in my opinion, I think that’s too lengthy. In fact, when I do a risk assessment — I do it every three years because a lot of things can change (in that time).”
Digby will be presenting a motion at the July 10 park board meeting to address wildfire risk but he’s the only B.C. Green Party member on the board.
A park board spokesperson told Global News that a team is addressing wildfire risks by working with a forestry consultant with a report to be published in the near future.