The City of London is known as the Forest City, and yet its woodland cover – at just 7.8% – is far below the target of 30% natural cover recommended by Environment Canada for a healthy and sustainable ecosystem. The overall tree cover, which includes boulevard and park trees, as well as backyard trees, stands at about 16%, behind many other municipalities. Most Londoners appreciate the value – both environmental and economic – that trees bring to their community, but they do not always have the ability to plan and implement tree planting projects on their own.

Empowering the Community
ReForest London empowers people to be more involved in creating a sustainable environment. Through participation in community groups, such as neighbourhood associations, school and youth groups, business association, etc., Londoners raise funds, choose planting locations and tree species, and participate in planting the trees.

ReForest London provides organizational and technical guidance for these community led projects. The organizational help that we provide groups (such as negotiating with the City of London, helping with fundraising, recruiting additional partners and volunteers) along with the technical support (such as appropriate species selection, suggestions for planting locations, sourcing the trees, providing training and tools on planting day) has proven to be extremely effective and efficient. The matching funds we offer also encourages groups to engage our services.

Enhancing our Environment
Tree planting contribute to microclimate amelioration, carbon-sequestration, and air quality improvement. Trees trap carbon, one of the leading elements in greenhouse gases. One large tree replaces enough polluted air for four people to breathe in one day and one hectare sequesters more than 3 metric tonnes of organic carbon per year. Enhanced aesthetics of the immediate environment contribute to neighbourhood stability, enhanced property values and personal enjoyment.

Our Past Successes
ReForest London has partnered with dozens of local organizations. Full descriptions and photos of our past projects can be found on our Success Stories page of our website. Some examples include:
• Old South Community Organization has completed three projects with ReForest London. The group naturalized a large area in Thames Park and brought out over 100 volunteers from the community. The second project brought in another partner, the Wortley Road Business Association, to plant trees along Wortley Road. The third is creating a stunning gateway into Old South along Carfrae Cresent.
• Marie Curie School had very few trees on its large play ground. Over a two year period, we have planted 20 large shade trees and a dozen small coniferous trees with the help of the the 330 students at the school.
• Popular punk-ska band Angry Agency held a benefit concert for ReForest London and raised $1,300. With money matched by ReForest London, we planted over 100 trees with the help of 35 volunteers at Jaycee Park, a park close to where many of the band members live.