Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 44(4): July 2018 Summit and Sommer (1998) emphasized the need for local community group involvement and communication of personal benefits associated with trees to encourage desired behavior, in their case, tree planting. However, generating support for regulations that restrict activities on private prop- erty is likely more difficult, as it may be at odds with residents’ ideas about property rights and landscap- ing goals, which are oſten an expression of closely held cultural and social norms (Zagorski et al. 2004; Nielson and Smith 2005; Wolf 2008; Larson et al. 2010). Future research is needed to more fully explore these and other potential reasons some resi- dents are not supportive of private tree regulations. Examination of Toronto’s cosmetic pesticide ban, which restricts the use of pesticides on residential yards, may provide insight into out- reach for the private tree by-laws. Outreach and education efforts associated with the pesticide by-law included radio and other advertisements, a website, print brochures and facts sheets, and information available at community events over a five-year period (2004–2008; Cole et al. 2011). This campaign was more extensive than any current or recent outreach associated with the three private tree regulations. By 2008, 69% of residents surveyed were aware of the pesticide by-law (Cole et al. 2011), similar to the know- ledge levels of three of the five neighborhoods in this study, but much higher than the level of knowledge in the Brampton and North York neighborhoods. This suggests an active educa- tion program over multiple years using a variety of outreach tools can raise knowledge levels. Alternatively, Brampton has a website with information about the private tree by-law. When the study authors called 3-1-1 services in Brampton, several of the phone operators reached were not aware of the municipality’s private tree regulation, suggesting the informa- tion is not even available to frontline personnel. Finally, like the private tree by-laws, enforcement the pesticide regulation relies on individuals of reporting violators of the pesticide ban to the city. Gibson-Wood et al. (2012) found that most par- ticipants in their study were unwilling to report a neighbor who violated the ban, highlighting both the weakness of this enforcement approach and the importance of residents appreciating the benefits 195 of stopping the behavior regulated by the by-law to minimize violations, and more generally, reduce undesired behavior. Thus, outreach for the private tree by-laws needs to include information about how retention of larger trees provides benefits to residents. Moreover, since permit approval rates are very high, at least in Toronto, greater appreciation for large trees is needed to reduce the number of residents considering tree removal in the first place. The results of the private tree by-law analysis point to the importance of reaching new residents, par- ticularly immigrants, as they were less knowledge- able about the existence of these by-laws. This could include multi-language flyers sent to all recently sold homes, as well as partnerships with commu- nity groups that work with newcomers. However, support from new residents and immigrants for key components of the by-laws is no different than support from medium-term residents, suggesting that these groups’ low level of awareness does not translate into higher resistance to such by-laws. Alternatively, long-term residents had rela- tively good awareness levels, but were less supportive of their specific components, sug- gesting the need to target all residents through education campaigns to increase apprecia- tion for the benefits of retaining large trees. General awareness for municipal urban for- estry efforts and tree protection programs is oſten related to individuals’ level of income and educa- tion (Lorenzo et al. 2000; Jones et al. 2012), and the current study found similar results for by-law knowledge and support. Gender was another socio- demographic variable related to level of by-law sup- port. Jones et al. (2012) argued that since women tend to be more supportive of environmental protec- tion efforts, they might also be more aware of urban forestry policies, but Zhang et al. (2007) found no relationship between gender and support for urban forestry efforts. In the current study, males were more likely to be supportive of current regulations’ size and number requirements, as well as the cost of the permit, but it is unclear why this was the case. This study was limited in a couple of respects. Since researchers selected older neighborhoods with relatively high canopy cover, results may not be representative of all residents in the municipality— although it does provide an understanding of how to focus future educational outreach efforts. As ©2018 International Society of Arboriculture
July 2018
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