The cost of cleaning up the storm damage in Vancouver's Stanley Park could reach $9 million, according to the Vancouver Park Board.
The money is needed to rebuild the seawall, stabilize the embankments above it, and replant thousands of trees after powerful wind storms ripped through the park, said Park Board chairman Ian Robertson.
Close to $3 million has already been raised for the cleanup.
The federal government has pledged $2 million to the cleanup, and if the City of Vancouver and the province each kick in $2 million, most of the costs should be covered, Robertson said.
In addition to the destruction resulting from the storms, a scientist has warned the park faces the threat of infestation by destructive insects.
John McLean, an entomologist, says Vancouver could be at risk of a foreign insect invasion, and the domestic Douglas fir bark beetle could also pose a threat to the park in its weakened state.
Park officials in Halifax left downed trees in Point Pleasant Park after Hurricane Juan knocked down much of the forest in 2003.
What they did not anticipate, according to Stanley District manager Jim Lowden, was an infestation by the brown spruce longhorn beetle, a boring insect which is native to Europe.
McLean said he intends to meet with park board staff this week and propose an insect survey to determine the risk.
With files from The Canadian Press
