At the January 23rd Council of the Whole Meeting, Councillor Matt Dell shared his experiences of tree removal and replacement regarding the need to advance a city, thus emphasizing the need for context in urban planning. “I grew up in a farming family in the South Okanagan, where trees are cut down and replanted every 20 years. For some, removing trees is seen as a crime against humanity, while for others, it’s a necessary step toward advancing the city.” Unlike the routine cutting and replanting of fruit trees, the biodiverse ecosystems which include native and non-native trees requires a deeper understanding of its diverse inhabitants, many of which are already threatened by habitat loss and environmental changes.
Sequioa tree at Centennial Square.
An announcement was published at the Victoria News on May 12th, about provincial funding of $713,510 to boost climate preparedness at Centennial Square in Victoria, BC.
The news release boasts how the upgrades will, in part, improve stormwater management. With new trees and added greenery, the square is striving to become more climate-resilient, mitigate heat island effects, and better manage stormwater runoff.
This is a significant amount of money. The cost to plant a tree in hardscape areas, such as the suggested tree planting in Centennial Square, rises to $10,000 per tree or more when existing plantable space is not available. Therefore, it’s important to note that there are existing ecosystem services at this location, and the technical Memorandum by Dialog for this project lists no author and no staff qualifications specific to arboriculture expertise.
As urban forester Ryan Senechal notes (Creatively United), “Dialog commented on the ecosystem services to be provided by the planned 17 deciduous replacement trees, but no perspective was provided on those currently delivered by the Sequoia. A deciduous tree that is small at maturity has low potential to deliver equivalent benefits to the Sequoia, even when groups of them are planted. The benefits Dialog mentions are many years away. Dialog also commented on stormwater management delivery through the soil cells provided for the new trees, yet they have not conducted analysis of the current stormwater benefits offered by the existing lawn and Sequoia tree.”
Senechal continies, “Along with their leaves, deciduous trees lose most of their potential to disrupt rainwater just as rainfall arrives each fall. We are reliant entirely on the soil volume’s ability to capture and slow rainwater from reaching storm drains. The Sequoia, on the other hand, provides year-round leaf area that slows rainwater before it is absorbed into a massive soil area.
Below is a summary of the Sequoia’s current ecoservices, calculated using iTree app:
• Leaf area: 2500 square metres
• Carbon storage: 7.5 tonnes
• Carbon sequestration (annually): 8.128 kg
• Avoided water runoff (annually): 4.162 cubic metres
• Water intercepted (annually): 21.43 cubic metres
• Potential Evapotranspiration (annually): 59.05 cubic metres
• Oxygen production (annually): 21.67 kg
• Input measurements: 168.7 cm diameter at 1.4m height, 22 m total height, 2 m crown base height, 15.2 m crown width (N/S), 14.5 crown width (E/W), 5 side crown light exposure, 1 to 5% crown missing, 1 to 5% crown dieback”
In addition, the City of Victoria made specific and repeated note of an underground BC Hydro powerline which is encased in concrete and runs under the Sequoia’s root system. According to an article by Mary Fowles and Jennifer Button at CRD Watch, “Councillor Caradonna and senior Parks staff have repeatedly expressed safety concerns about BC Hydro’s infrastructure, yet no specific information outlines a potential conflict investigated by Dialog or Talmack. No conflict with BC Hydro infrastructure was identified in either Dialog’s report or Talmack’s report.”
As BC Hydro’s Freedom of Information department put it: “Please be advised that we checked with the departments who would have known about the tree and electrical vault, and none of them indicated knowing about any correspondence with the City of Victoria (to or from).”
Links to articles here:
Calls for saving the Sequoia mount as the City of Victoria Council receives growing public scrutiny over a lack of transparency, and among indications of what may be gross inconsistencies on the issue.
https://crdwatch.ca/2025/02/09/calls-for-saving-the-sequoia-mount-as-the-city-of-victoria-council-receives-growing-public-scrutiny-over-a-lack-of-transparency-and-among-indications-of-what-may-be-gross-inconsistencies-on-the/
An Analysis of Dialog’s Technical Memorandum on the Centennial Square Sequoia Tree
https://creativelyunited.org/an-analysis-of-dialogs-technical-memorandum-on-the-centennial-square-sequoia-tree/
Centennial Square Revitalization Project by Dialog
https://pub-victoria.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=98055
Ryan Senechal: Removing Sequoia Would Violate City of Victoria Policies
https://creativelyunited.org/ryan-senechal-removing-sequoia-would-violate-city-of-victoria-policies/
CBC’ Liz McArthur interview
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-48-on-the-island/clip/16095687-a-large-sequoia-cut-part-design-revitalize-centennial
This is not an arborist report, this is tree inventory report. There is nothing technical in nature related to the Sequoia in this report, and removal action recommended by the arborist has no evidence to support it. https://www.victoria.ca/media/file/centennial-square-revitalization-project-arborist-report-2024
Climate funding will bring upgrades to Victoria’s Centennial Square
https://www.vicnews.com/local-news/climate-funding-will-bring-upgrades-to-victorias-centennial-square-7998678
Save the Sequoia petition
https://www.change.org/p/save-the-mighty-sequoia-tree-at-centennial-square-victoria-bc-from-wrongful-demolition
Great Turnout by Concerned Citizens and Response at Rally (September 2024) to Save the Majestic Sequoia at Victoria Centennial Square
https://crdwatch.ca/2024/09/08/great-turnout-by-concerned-citizens-and-response-at-rally-to-save-the-majestic-sequoia-at-victoria-centennial-square/
Motion: https://pub-victoria.escribemeetings.com/FileStream.ashx?DocumentId=98612
*On the main motion as amended:
THAT Council approve the updated concept design for Centennial Square and direct staff to proceed with implementation as outlined in this report, as amended by the following: 1. Increase the child-orientated play features in the final designs. Committee of the While Minutes July 04, 2024 7 2. In future consider commercial mixed-use to return to the north side of the Square. 3. After removal of the unsafe trees, and without slowing down the project, staff to repurpose the timber within the Victoria community as they see fit.
OPPOSED (3): Councillor Hammond, Councillor Gardiner, Councillor Coleman CARRIED (6 to 3)”
Staff report: https://pub-victoria.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=98055