Canopy for Community

Community tree planting events are a great way to bring families, community members, and volunteers together to help increase our canopy cover, promote local engagement, and increase environmental awareness. Participants have the opportunity to directly help their community by participating in a local reforestation project and learning about the benefits of trees, shade, and urban green spaces. In the last 4 years, we were able to plant over 3000 native trees and shrubs across Hamilton.

It is not enough to just plant trees but to take care of them! The first few years of a newly-planted tree’s life are important for its survival. In the early stages, they start to develop their roots and adapt to the surrounding environment. Urban trees face many additional stresses from living in the city, so they require more attention than a tree in the forest. To make sure they thrive and become beautiful mature trees, we need to ensure their survival through maintenance and stewardship! Removing invasive plant species, general clean-up, and mulching can help reduce competition with non-native species and increase survivability.

Green Venture is dedicated to contributing to this goal through our mini forest projects, embracing the Miyawaki Method, developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki. This method focuses on establishing small, diverse forest patches that effectively combat climate change, boost local biodiversity, and expand tree canopies in urban areas. Since 2021, we have undertaken pilot projects involving community plantings in Hamilton, distributed mini forest at-home kits and resources for individual backyards and schoolyards, and provided tree seed starting kits for schools and community members in Hamilton.

These initiatives have proven successful in augmenting tree canopy cover in Hamilton while actively involving students, homeowners, and other residents in the collective effort to learn, grow, and plant more native trees. Our objective is to boost canopy cover in Hamilton by fostering biodiversity, managing stormwater, enhancing air quality, providing shade, and creating opportunities for community engagement with nature.

Green Venture is working with CityHousing Hamilton, schools, churches, and other organizations to compile a database of trees, along with providing engagement and outreach to the community. The Hamilton Tree Equity Project aims to improve urban forest health and tree equitable distribution on different properties. Check out our Tree Inventory Map below to see where we conducted our inventories with the help of our amazing volunteers.