Microforest Planting Program

In the fall of 2021, SWR launched our pilot microforest program that aims to encourage organizations across Waterloo Region to donate land on which trees can be planted.

Made possible by funding from the Ages Foundation, our first program saw volunteers from GrandBridge Energy and EY Waterloo join us to plant dozens of trees at Manchester Public School and 115 new trees at Avenue Road Public School in Cambridge.

Together, we planted 11 different native species of trees of varying sizes. As those trees grow, they’ll create a vibrant microforest with long-term environmental and aesthetic benefits for the school, surrounding neighbourhood, and community. 

The schools can use the space for outdoor activities and programming, while the forest will absorb the heat from parking lots close by, reduce stormwater runoff, and provide habitat for local wildlife, among other vital functions. As our Executive Director Tova Davidson noted in the article linked to above, “Trees are our most reliable, most dependable, proven way of pulling carbon out of the air. So the more trees we have, the better off we are.”

As a recent Statistics Canada study showed, Waterloo Region is one of a small number of urban areas in Canada that has successfully protected the amount of green space in the community over the last 20 years. Small but meaningful program such as microforest planting will help the region meet their urban tree cover goals and continue to keep our home as green as possible. 

Territory Acknowledgement

The land on which we plant is on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee people, and we are situated on the Haldimand Tract, land promised to the Haudenosaunee of the Six Nations territory. As part of reconciliation, we recognize the Indigenous people who continue to live here, care for, and remain interconnected with this land. The basis of the Haudenosaunee culture is the connection and care for the land for the future of our children. The work done through the microforest program is to care for, and preserve the land for a prosperous future together. We honour the wisdom brought by these people’s and strive to braid it into the work and programs we do every day.

Microforest Program Impact 

We calculate the impact of this program using the cumulative average carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration is modeled as a function of five factors: succession stage, vegetation type (species), % tree canopy cover, temperature (high and low variability), and soil carbon to nitrogen ratio (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, 2013). The average Canadian tree, under moderate soil conditions and assuming an 80-year maturity, in an urban environment sequesters about 200 kg C over an 80 year period, or 2.5kg carbon yr-1 (Tree Canada, 2008).

Current Sites	Year Planted	# of Trees	Carbon Sequestered = # of trees x 2.5 kg
Avenue Road P.S.	2021	115	287.5 kg/year
Manchester P.S.	2021	55	137.5 kg/year
Centennial P.S.	2022	100	250 kg/year
Lincoln Heights P.S.	2022	90	225 kg/year
Parkway P.S.	2022	100	250 kg/year
David Johnston Research + Technology Park	2022	100	250 kg/year
Sandowne P.S.	2022	100	250 kg/year
Wilson Avenue P.S.	2022	110	275 kg/year
Total		770 trees planted	Cumulative average of 1,925 kg/year

*1000 kg in one metric tonne