Over this four-session course, 30 people, including myself, took part in an engaging, relevant, hands-on and comprehensive introduction to urban forestry.
The training was led by Tooba Shakeel from LEAF and four other professionals in the urban forestry field covering topics like tree biology, identification, maintenance, and municipal by-laws. The training was split up into four days that each focused on a topic which the speaker specialized in. The participants were provided with plenty of resources such as presentation handouts, tip sheets, and a citizen arborist manual to support our learning.
The participants of this program came from all walks of life including gardeners, forestry professionals, and citizens looking to play a more active role in maintaining trees in their neighbourhood. My reason for participating is that I am a part of LEAF’s 2017 Young Urban Forest Leaders (YUFL) program which incorporates the tree tenders volunteer training as a part of our larger learning goals. I was excited to practice tree identification in Riverdale park and learn about Toronto forestry case-studies which complemented my knowledge from Forest Conservation studies at UofT. I’m glad that we spent as much time outdoors as indoors to get up close and hands-on with trees all around us.
I learned about many new forestry concepts and had the chance to share my passion for the environment with a room full of others who felt the same way. I also had the chance to connect with professionals and stay up to date about the state of urban forestry today. Toronto is a green city, and we will have to work together to maintain our urban forest into the future.
Once everyone had a handle on basic tree knowledge the program ended with the message to participate in enhancing the urban forest in any way possible. That could mean joining a community group, telling your friends about something you learned or even recognizing street trees more than you would previously.
Overall, the program was very inspiring and I’m looking forward to taking this knowledge with me in the future. I encourage you to also take a step to reach out and learn about our urban forest and appreciate all the benefits that the estimated 10.2 million trees in Toronto provide to us free of charge!
A big thank you to Laura for sharing her reflections on the course! We are looking forward to following Laura’s urban forest journey. You can learn more about the Tree Tenders Volunteer Training Program and register today to reserve a spot in our upcoming course in Mississauga.
Tree Tenders Volunteer Training program is supported by Ontario Power Generation, York Region, and The City of Mississauga.
Photographs were taken by David Slaughter, Lillian Natalizio, Patrick Gurges, and Tooba Shakeel
Laura Nguyen is a recent graduate from the Forest Conservation program at University of Toronto and a participant in LEAF’S Young Urban Forest Leader’s program. She is incredibly enthusiastic about the urban forest and is looking forward to all that post-graduate life has to bring.
Tooba Shakeel is an ISA certified arborist and LEAF’s Education and Outreach Coordinator.