Communion Forest Inventory Results: More Pruning, Less Planting

While many people were enjoying the shade of a tree canopy this summer, members of seven Niagara parishes spent time under the tree canopies on their church properties measuring them and literally hugging their trunks. Many say they will never look at a tree in the same way again.

Using the Neighbourwoods Tree Inventory method in which parish volunteers were trained in early July, teams went out to measure and assess the overall health of the trees on their properties. Planting trees is often top of mind for something with the word “forest” in its name, but in the cases of the participating parishes, many realize they have plenty of trees already, but they are suffering from lack of care or some kind of infestation.

Some have mixed results. For example, St. David’s, Welland, had a great crew of three volunteers out on two different days to complete their inventory of 36 trees. They also have a large, wooded area that belongs to the parish but through an agreement with the city, has a common pathway through connecting to a city-owned park.

Out of the 36 trees, many were in distress or already dead. Plans for taking care of the existing trees became a priority. However, there is also a beautiful lawn space at the front of the church facing the street which is empty and could be a great space for adding to the green canopy of Welland. It is also St. David’s 75th anniversary as a parish so what better way to celebrate than by planting a tree as a gift to the future!

Other parishes that have completed the inventory and are now considering next steps include: St Aidan’s, Oakville; St. Christopher’s, Burlington; St. George’s, Guelph; St. John’s, Nelson; St. Paul’s, Caledonia; and St. Paul’s, Westdale.

St. Christopher’s, Burlington, worked in collaboration with St. John’s, Nelson. Between the two parishes there were enough volunteers to finish off both locations in three days. Many hands make light work in this project for sure. Parishioners who might like to be involved but have nowhere to plant are highly needed in other parishes that have space to grow but lack volunteers. Every tree that is planted requires adequate watering for two years so commitment is crucial.

Along with Dr. Danijela Puric-Mladenovic from Neighbourwoods and the University of Toronto, the Anglican Foundation grant has also given us the opportunity to partner with Green Venture, a Hamilton environmental education organization. Currently, we are working with Liz Enriquez, green infrastructure program manager, to determine next actions at the seven parishes, from tree removal to planting trees with large root balls or even planting a mini-forest.

The Anglican Foundation provided the diocese with a matching grant for this project to allow for the partnership of Green Venture and Neighbourwoods, and to pay for the tree planting, restoration, or removal. Climate Justice Niagara has also benefitted from two student placements from the environmental management program at Niagara College over the course of the project, with one more expected in January. One of the roles of that student will be data input from the tree inventories into software used by the Neighbourwoods initiative out of U of T.

If you have any questions about how your parish can get involved in the Communion Forest Initiative, contact Deirdre Pike, [email protected]