Branching out: The inclusion of urban food trees in Canadian urban forest management plans

Abstract

Urban food forests are woody perennial food producing species intentionally planted and managed for their food products. Research and public interest in urban food forests is increasing in Canada, yet their place in municipal urban forest management is unclear. To better understand how urban food forests intersect with current urban forest management imperatives, we analyzed urban forest management plans from 47 municipalities across Canada to discern if and how urban food forests are incorporated. Through a content analysis, we found that inclusion of urban food forests and related terms was very uneven in the management plans, with less than one-third of the plans directly considering urban food forests. When food forests are mentioned in plans, common contextual themes were species diversity, food security and specific management dimensions. These findings suggest that urban food forests are only beginning to gain recognition in Canadian municipal urban forest management, particularly in cases when food trees can contribute to existing goals like increasing species diversity. To fully address all of the potential and challenges associated with urban food forests in Canada, a wider set of socio-ecological considerations is required by researchers and policy-makers.