Blogs

The air was crisp and the trees dotting the streetscape were soaking up the bright rays of sun when I arrived at the corner of Bloor Street West and Avenue Road one Sunday morning this September. LEAF volunteer Sarah met me there and we soon began to take registrations and collect donations for the Heritage Tree Tour. Philip van Wassenaer -- a man who seems to know all things when it comes to trees, and our leader for this tour – joined us, and with the sounds of the city all around, we were ready to take a stroll and learn about Toronto’s natural history.

Is there anything more Canadian than a maple leaf? You might say hockey or lacrosse, but really, it is a giant maple leaf on our flag. And did you know that there are more species of maple in our lovely country than there are seasons? Most people know the majestic silver or can pick out the brilliant fall colour of the red. But some maples see very little time in the limelight (looking at you, striped maple), while others are hardly known at all.

At LEAF, our mandate is to engage residents in urban forest stewardship. In our book, that includes thinking about what happens to the wood when a tree comes down! Each year, our urban communities produce massive amounts of wood and much of it is currently wasted. The loss of millions of ash trees in the GTA due to Emerald Ash Borer, creates an even greater urgency to find solutions to using this valuable wood locally.

In the words of punk music icon Joe Strummer, “If you’re after getting the honey, then you don’t go killing all the bees.” This tune always runs through my mind when I read about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) – a phenomenon in which bees abruptly die off in such numbers that there are not enough left to support the colony.