In May 2023, with support from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, CAFES partnered with Forêt Capitale Forest, Forest Ontario, and the office of M.P. Yasir Naqvi to pilot a Mother’s Day Tree Give-Away planting project to promote backyard tree planting, with the purpose of boosting the City of Ottawa's urban tree canopy.
Ottawa currently does not have a backyard tree planting program. The City’s current tree planting program, Trees in Trust, offers residents a free tree in their front yard in the City Right of Way. A backyard tree planting program would bolster Ottawa’s capacity to combat tree loss in the face of extreme weather events, climate changes and development and would help diversify the tree canopy in urban and suburban Ottawa.
This event was held on Mother’s Day weekend, and the project was intended for students to gift a tree to their mother or parent. A total of 70 trees (1-2 gallons in size) were matched to pre-screened recipients and were taken home to be planted. After the tree give-away, area tree planting was planned to i) meet equity concerns for those that do not have a planting space on their property but would still like to participate in the pilot project, ii) guarantee a planting space for any leftover trees from the give-away, and iii) enhance an urban greenspace area. Together, 40 individuals planted 40 trees in the space across from Billings Bridge, between the Rideau River and Riverside Drive.
Below you can find the Final Report for this project, as well as the Tree Sapling Planting Instructions guide that was created and handed out at the give-away event to educate tree recipients on proper tree planting and care.
