Vancouver residents encouraged to ‘adopt’ a tree

Image from the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation shows a resident watering a young tree.

The Vancouver Park Board is encouraging residents to “adopt” young trees, to help them survive the summer heat.

More than 500 trees have been adopted since the adopt-a-tree program was first launched in 2024.

Participants are expected to water their trees between June and September, when it hasn’t rained for at least four days.

Mature trees are not available for adoption, but residents are encouraged to water all street trees during dry spells.

“Trees provide shade and cooling during hot weather, and prevent flooding during intense rain, all while cleaning the air we breathe,” said Vancouver Park Board Chair Tom Digby, in a news release Wednesday.

“Trees do all this and more for us, and now we need to take care of them.”

The park board says the program helps with their aim of expanding Vancouver’s urban canopy to 30 per cent by 2050.

Stage 3 water restrictions are now in effect across the region, but watering trees is still allowed.

Those interested in adopting a tree can visit vancouver.ca/adopt-a-tree, where an interactive map shows available trees, as well as instructions on how to care for them. New adopters can also get watering bags from select community centres, while supplies last.