About Our Urban Forest

Trees provide many essential benefits, including cooling our streets in the summer, reducing rainwater runoff and air pollution, improving mental and physical health, and beautifying our city. Winnipeg's urban forest faces significant challenges from insects and disease, climate change, urban development, and resource strains.

While American elm and ash represent 26% and 33% of the public trees, respectively, both are under siege due to Dutch elm disease and the Emerald Ash Borer. The City of Winnipeg is also facing challenges in their capacity to maintain the urban forest — resources struggle to keep pace with demand for disease management, urban development, tree removals, maintenance, and replanting. These combined challenges threaten the urban forest's ability to provide beneficial ecosystem services, such as climate control, improved air quality, rainwater interception, and habitat connectivity – critical components of our city's resilience amid climate change.

Trees Winnipeg (The Coalition to Save the Elms) is a non-profit organization founded in 1992 in response to the heightened threat of Dutch elm disease to Winnipeg's extraordinary American elms. In recent years, we've expanded our mission to also promote species diversity, tree planting, and Heritage trees. The following sections provide information on how you can get involved in renewing our urban forest.