Urban wildlife and arborists: environmental governance and the protection of wildlife during tree care operations

Abstract

When working with urban trees, arborists can negatively impact urban wildlife. There have been recent efforts to strengthen wildlife protection and conservation during arboricultural practices, both legislatively and voluntarily through arboriculture organizations. To examine arborists’ perceptions of these environmental policies and understand their experiences with urban wildlife, we conducted an international online survey of 805 arborists. Many respondents (n = 481, 59.8%) reported being involved in tree work that resulted in wildlife injury or death, despite most respondents reportedly modifying work plans or objectives after encountering wildlife (n = 598, 74.3%). Decisions to modify or cease work were most heavily influenced by the legal protection of species, wildlife having young, and the overall management objectives. Support for new wildlife best management practices (BMPs) was high (n = 718, 90.3%), as was awareness of wildlife and arboriculture-related legislation (n = 611, 77.2%). The findings demonstrate support amongst arborists for the implementation of wildlife policies to protect wildlife in urban forestry; however, implementation of such policies would require a non-prescriptive approach that is relevant to a diversity of wildlife concerns globally, causing concern amongst arborists about the applicability of such a document. Concerns also included the economic impacts of voluntary wildlife protection policies in arboriculture, where competitors may not adhere to industry standards or best practices. Given the support of arborists for increased wildlife protection policies, we recommend the development of international wildlife-focused BMPs for arboriculture, especially as an intermediary until legislation can be implemented or more rigorously enforced.