Port Moody earns 2025 Tree City of the World recognition from Arbor Day Foundation, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Port Moody has recently been named a 2025 Tree City of the World by the Arbor Day Foundation and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in honour of the City’s commitment to plant, grow, and maintain trees to benefit the community.

“This recognition from respected global organizations reflects our dedication to maintaining, protecting, and enhancing Port Moody’s urban forest,” says Mayor Meghan Lahti. “Through our Urban Forest Management Strategy, Tree Planting Plan, and Tree Protection Bylaw, as well as community-focused initiatives like our annual free tree giveaway, we’re creating a liveable, resilient city where our urban forest supports the health and well-being of our community and the exceptional environment in which we live.”

To be named a Tree City of the World, a city must uphold five core standards: establish responsibility for the care of trees; enact a law or policy that governs the management of trees and forests; maintain an updated assessment of local tree resources; allocate resources for a tree management plan; and hold an annual celebration of trees to educate local residents. 

Here are some of the ways Port Moody earned recognition as a Tree City of the World:

• Port Moody’s Tree Protection Bylaw, updated in 2026, regulates tree protection on private and public lands in Port Moody. It helps us preserve and enhance our urban forest by regulating tree removal, requiring replacement planting, and supporting long-term canopy cover targets.
• The City’s Urban Forest Management Strategy (UFMS), adopted by Council in 2023, articulates a 30-year vision and goals for the management of our urban forest. The UFMS helps us preserve and maximize the benefits that trees provide as well as respond to the impacts of climate change and urban growth and development. 
• Data from the City’s tree inventory informed the development of the UFMS. The inventory, which includes more than 4,500 street trees, provides valuable information about the variety of species along Port Moody’s streets as well as size information to help estimate the age of the trees in Port Moody’s care.
• The City has a Tree Planting Plan that provides direction to increase canopy cover and achieve stable and equitable tree canopy cover over time to meet the canopy cover goals set in the UFMS.
• In 2025, to celebrate the importance of trees, provide educational information on the benefits of trees and tree care, and encourage tree planting on private land, we gave away 375 ready-to-plant trees to Port Moody residents. We’ll be giving away trees again this year – check portmoody.ca/news in April 2026 for information about our 2026 free tree giveaway.

In cities and neighborhoods, trees are proven to help mitigate the urban heat island effect, reduce stormwater runoff and flooding, improve air quality, and boost mental and physical health. When the right trees are planted in the right places, they can also reduce traffic noise, increase property values, and lower energy costs for homeowners. Visit portmoody.ca/ufms to learn more about how the City is working to sustain the future of Port Moody’s urban forest.

The Arbor Day Foundation is a United States-based global nonprofit that has helped plant more than 500 million trees in cities, towns, and forests across more than 60 countries since 1972. The international Tree Cities of the World program is jointly operated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and recognizes cities and towns that leverage urban forestry to enhance the livability and sustainability of their local area. FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to address food security and also seeks to restore forests, improve the lives of forest-dependent people, and support countries to manage their forests in a sustainable way.