What is your interest and motivation for serving as a LEAF board member?
I’ve always been a big LEAF fan and am a past employee and board member, so rejoining the board is like coming home. I like the philosophy behind LEAF and am impressed by the tangible gains that this small organization makes, year after year. But it’s also about the people. Janet and her team are a pleasure to work with.
What experience do you bring?
I have worked and volunteered for many environmental NGOs, including five years on the LEAF board many years ago, 3.5 years on the North American Native Plant Society (NANPS) board more recently, more than a decade as committee chair for the Ontario Invasive Plant Council (OIPC), and 12 years employed at Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). In October 2015, I took over as director of education at Toronto Botanical Garden. Plants, plants plants!!!
What do you see as some of the most pressing issues facing the urban forest?
Invasive insects, fungal diseases and invasive plants present massive threats. My focus is, and has been for many years, invasive plants. As co-chair of OIPC’s Horticulture Outreach Committee, I am committed to spreading the word about invasive plants in the horticultural trade and working with the industry and related trades (landscape designers and architects and gardeners) to address this issue. Helping to create 
One of my greatest frustrations though is the lack of a coordinated, effective response to invasive plants despite the long-standing knowledge of their ecological (and economic) impacts and their insidious creep across our province.
Other threats to the urban forest and life, in general, include the rapid decline (one or two generations) in ecological knowledge and appreciation due to digital distractions, the fast pace of life, our separation from food harvesting and growing and society’s preoccupation with short-term economic gain. And, of course, there are many short-sighted, ecologically-ignorant and socially-irresponsible leaders of governments and corporations that are moving society in the wrong direction. I do take some comfort in the urban forest and nature-friendly policies and programs put in place by the City of Toronto over the last two decades.
How do you see LEAF currently, or potentially, addressing some of these issues?
LEAF has created a dependable market for native plants that local growers appreciate. It’s not huge, but it's business they can rely upon year after year.
LEAF is committed to the delivery of high-quality education and engagement regarding native and invasive plants, tree care and other important issues. It may be small, but its impact is huge.
Are you involved in any other community work?
- North American Native Plant Society board member
- Dining with Dignity server and kitchen help
- Horticulture Outreach Collaborative committee member
- Fern Avenue Public School gardener
- LEAF board member
- City of Toronto environmental program volunteer
In my neighbourhood, I am the resident nature nut and that suits me just fine. I regularly force neighbours out of their homes to spy on a pupating caterpillar, watch a pigeon-eating owl or breathe in the fragrance of a native tree bloom. In return for my unsolicited services, they give me space in their yards to grow more native plants. This is an ideal exchange because I’m a big-dreaming gardener with a tiny patch of land.
Janet McKay is the Executive Director at LEAF.
LEAF offers a subsidized Backyard Tree Planting Program for private property. The program is supported by The City of Toronto, The Regional Municipality of York, The City of Markham, The Town of Newmarket, The Town of Ajax, Ontario Power Generation and Toronto Hydro. For details on how you can participate, visit http://yourleaf.org.