On Mother’s Day weekend May 11-12th, 2024, CAFES held a very successful 2nd annual tree give-away event! We ended up giving away 56 free tree saplings to community members to plant in their backyards. Our tree species included Eastern White Cedar, Hemlock, Tamarack, Silver Maple, Yellow Birch, Northern Hackberry and Black Walnut.
The purpose of this event was to increase backyard tree planting in tree-deprived neighbourhoods in Ottawa. Despite the fact that a huge portion of the City's tree canopy comes from trees planted on private residences, Ottawa currently does not have a backyard tree planting program. This year, we approached this event through an equity lens in order to target neighbourhoods that are in the most need of trees. We partnered with Mechanicsville and Dalhousie Community Associations to promote our give-away in these areas that are currently battling heat islands, tree loss, and increasing density.
Overall we had a great time, and were happy to see so many trees going to good homes! Thank you to MP Yasir Naqvi, and MPP Joel Harden, for your contributions to this wonderful event.
