Little Forests Kingston

Meeting July 17

Saturday July 17: 10:00 am

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81195507009?pwd=cHdyaVpFUVNrRmVBYmdnR1lWcVZrQT09

Agenda: Maureen and Joanne can’t make tomorrow’s meeting. I was thinking of another forest walk, but it looks like a very rainy day. Anyone interested in joining me for a chat?

Little Forests happenings

Preparing the land at Wolfe Island: Wolfe Island hosted two workbees to prepare the land for the Wolfe Island Little Forests. They marked the space, spread a layed of donated old hay. covered the hay with a layer of manure, and will be adding a thick layer of woodchips on top.

Soil workshops: Astrid will be facilitating soil workshops at HWY 15 and Lakeside the week of August 23rd. We’ll let you know the details in the next newsletter. Join her on Thursday August 19 at 1:00pm during Ask a Master Gardener as well to learn more about preparing the soil for planting a Little Forest.

The Task of Rewilding (Kingston Life article): Kingston Life published an article on Little Forests in their summer issue. They forgot to include Joanne, the third person on that walk last November when we launched Little Forests. I hate that they used the word plantations. Little Forests aren’t plantations… they’re a community, a web of relationships.

Inequality is baked into the landscape

“Laws are a reflection of social movements. Laws are a reflection of our values. So our work has to be to not necessarily use the existing laws, but to promote a growth in values of justice. That’s where I really see storytelling and art playing that role, to help move consciousness in a way that these legal structures of rights of nature makes perfect sense. I dream of a day where people say: ‘Well, duh, of course! Of course those trees have standing.” ~Robin Wall Kimmerer

Inequality is baked into the landscape: This is a heatmap done by Parks Vancouver showing the But there’s also inequality when it comes to who has the shade, and who’s left to scorch in the sun. In fact, this shady inequality is baked into the landscape of the city itself. The average temperature of the city’s streetscape varies by more than 20 C between the coolest and hottest city blocks during the summer, according to the park board.

Streets without trees: Earlier this month, an architect in Winnipeg measured the difference in temperature on streets with and without trees… check out this difference. While the Little Forests we’re planting this year aren’t along streets, perhaps 4m wide Little Forests could become a future goal in our urban forestry strategy. Just imagine, Little Forests lining active transportation routes!

Vancouver releases a toolkit for retaining & growing leaf canopy: “Metro Vancouver has a goal of increasing tree canopy across the region to a net value of 40% by 2050 from 32%. The goal is tempered by a Metro Vancouver study that showed development, such as housing and roads, would result in a decline in canopy cover over the next three decades.” I wonder if this applies to Kingston as well… what impact does development have on Kingston’s City’s afforestation goals? 

Design must account for climate change: While Little Forests will help sink carbon, perhaps more importantly they will help us build local resilience in the face of our new climate reality. “In 2017 Dr. Theresa Tam authored a report indicating that addressing higher urban temperatures through interventions such as trees and green space can reduce the factors that contribute to chronic disease, heat-related illness and deaths. A 2016 Toronto study found that in extreme heat conditions, a 2 C to 3 C increase in air temperatures can translate to a four to seven per cent increase in the mortality rate attributable to heat. These factors are particularly important for marginalized and lower-income groups living in less climate-resilient housing and neighbourhoods.”