TORONTO — Grab the kids, the grandparents, cousins, uncles and anyone else you think might be interested in planting a tree and head on over to Downsview Park on Sunday, Sept. 13.
Children plant trees at Downsview Park in June [Photo courtesy Downsview Park]
TORONTO — Grab the kids, the grandparents, cousins, uncles and
anyone else you think might be interested in planting a tree and head
on over to Downsview Park on Sunday, Sept. 13.
That’s the message JNF Toronto is spreading via e-mail, on its Internet Facebook and Twitter pages and in the media in advance of the second Downsview Park tree twinning event it will host this year.
The first tree planting event at the park occurred in June, when more than 1,200 students from both Jewish and public day schools from around Toronto converged on the park and managed to plant approximately 700 trees.
JNF Toronto chose the Downsview Park Foundation earlier this year as its twinning partner in Canada. For every tree planted at the park, another is planted in Israel’s Yatir forest and reservoir.
Yatir forest, on the southern slopes of Mount Hebron near the Negev, is Israel’s largest planted forest – administered by the JNF – covering an area of around 30 square kilometers.
Josh Cooper, executive director of JNF Toronto, told The CJN last month he hoped to build on the success of his organization’s previous event and foresaw this new “family day” as the next logical step forward.
“The goal is to create family time together to plant a tree,” he said. “It’s a great family event and it’s something I certainly never had a chance to do with my family when I was a kid.”
All the necessary tools for planting will be provided to participants upon arrival at the park.
The event is a win-win for both organizing parties, as JNF continues to fulfill its environmental mandate both here and in Israel, while Downsview Park has portions of its developing lands populated by a mix of Quaking Aspens, Balsam Poplars, Silver Maples and River Birch; all species native to the area.
Tony Genco, president and CEO of Downsview Park, said he was thrilled with JNF’s request to use the grounds for their tree-planting activities.
Genco said his job is to adhere to the federal government’s mandate to turn the former army base into an “urban park” where Torontonians and Canadians can come for a nature stroll or unwind by a man-made lake.
A swarm of volunteer tree planters and the increasingly friendly relationship with the JNF has helped move the plan along.
“We’ve already planted 55,000 trees to create a section of stewardship for the park,” he said. “The government gave us the gift of land, but didn’t give us the money to do anything with it. We hope to foster a sense of [environmental] stewardship…and JNF raises funds to plant trees.”
Genco estimates the cost per tree at around $12 to $15.
“You’ve got to plant pot-able trees” and not saplings, he said, adding that all the trees planted at Downsview Park are purchased through local suppliers.
Early response and feedback from both the Jewish and greater Toronto community has been “extremely positive,” Cooper said.
Genco dared other faith communities to organize their own tree planting events to help foster a sense of community and to make the park into the attraction it hopes to be.
“Right now we’re working with the Jewish community, but we hope to get others. It’s been a delight to work with JNF to take on this challenge,” Genco said.
The twinning project between JNF Toronto and Downsview Park is the only one of its kind currently underway in Canada, but JNF Toronto said it hopes to “expand this across the country.”