The City of Colwood now has a better sense of its natural assets, thanks to the Municipal Natural Assets Initiative.
The city applied to be a part of the initiative’s Accelerate Program in early 2021, and was chosen as one of 31 municipalities across the country to join. At a meeting June 6, the final report on the natural asset inventory was presented.
According to the final report, the city’s natural assets include 13 individual agriculture assets covering 0.1 hectares, 26 aquatic vegetation assets covering 0.1 hectares, 3,430 grass assets covering 173 hectares, 4,903 coniferous trees over 438 hectares, and 23,158 deciduous trees over 280 hectares.
While the city plans to build on the data collected in the inventory, the information it now has at its disposal will help guide planning and potentially save costs as assets such as ditches, ponds and creeks can be used as alternatives to built assets.
It will also allow the city to more accurately calculate its total greenhouse gas emissions as it works to develop a climate action plan.