Off the path in Halifax's Point Pleasant Park, a tree worker examines a freshly felled tree. The city is culling non-native species from the park in order to strengthen the forest. Image: Taylor McCuaig
Early European settlers and birds are among the reasons why Halifax’s Point Pleasant Park has a variety of different non-native trees within. However, with the area originally being a strictly Acadian forest, the city has decided to undertake a cull of non-native species in order to strengthen those species native to the area. In total, eleven species are being removed in order to allow species such as white pine, red oak and sugar maple to thrive.
“The goal is to make a stronger, healthier forest,” says Maggie-Jane Spray, senior communications advisor with the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). “If we were to do nothing, the natural life cycle of a forest would take care of this for us, but we’re helping to make the trees bigger and stronger, faster. We’re doing this by cutting out the smaller, thinner and weaker trees.”
The species being removed from the park include Norway maple, sycamore maple, silver maple, Norway spruce, Sitka spruce, Scotch pine, Austrian pine, Douglas fir, English oak, horse chestnut and locust. In total, the plan will see up to 80,000 trees felled over 10.63 hectares of the park. These species came to actually be in the park through a variety of different means.
“Many of the other species in the park were planted by early settlers,” says Spray. “Some were even brought over from England, such as the English oak. We believe some have migrated from local streets, such as the Norway maple, and others may have ended up here from birds, such as robinia.”
The non-native species will be left to decompose after felling, so their nutrients will go back into the ground to act as a fertilizer boost for the remaining trees. The Acadian breeds will, in most cases, be left to repopulate naturally.
“We are trying to rebirth the park back to its natural beginnings of Acadian forestry with the sturdier types of trees remaining,” HRM spokesperson Brendan Elliott told CBC News earlier in the year.
The cull was originally scheduled to take place at the end of the July, however it was moved to September and October in order to avoid disruption of the migratory bird nesting season. Federal regulations on migratory birds prohibit work that could disturb nests in the area from April until late August.
— Matt Jones