It’s our second (blistering) day in High Park, and Sarah Rafols, our guest naturalist from LEAF, is teaching us about Toronto’s urban forest. As we venture into High Park’s woodlands habitat, the temperature breaks and we feel a sudden relief from the blazing hot sun that was just a moment ago making us question heading outside.
It turns out Sarah is right, our urban forests are natural air conditioners! Not only do our abundant city trees help to purify the air we breathe, it is several degrees cooler in the forest! As we hike along the shaded wooded trails we learn more interesting facts about High Park’s woodlands habitat:
Pages taken from two of the High Park Nature Centre’s Young Naturalists, Miriam and Ella.
As young naturalists we get to learn from some of the most interesting and dedicated naturalists in the city. A very important take-home message that all naturalists teach us is that we must all do our part to help keep our city’s natural areas healthy. Here are some helpful things that Sarah taught us and that we believe everyone can do:
- Mulch and water your trees (especially the newly planted ones)
- Plant native species
- Don’t lock your bike to trees along the roadside
- Teach others of the benefits of trees in the city
Sarah Halonen is the Camps and Community Programs Coordinator at the High Park Nature Centre, a non-profit organization dedicated to the pursuit of awareness and respect for nature and the stewardship of High Park’s natural areas. The centre offers the Young Naturalists Summer Club and many other programs.