With the support of the Government of Ontario and the Regional Municipality of York, LEAF provided in-class workshops to nine schools earlier this month to teach students the importance of the urban forest, its connection to Great Lakes water quality and the threat posed by EAB. This invasive insect is set to kill over 2.8 million ash trees across York Region within the next few years, so the impact on the environmental health of our communities will be significant.
Lauren Brown, LEAF’s Education and Outreach Coordinator, delivers an EAB workshop to a class at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Elementary School in Richmond Hill.
But there are things we can do to help! As the students learned in our workshops, while the outlook for ash trees across the Region may be bleak, we can all pitch in and do our part by planting new trees and shrubs of diverse species on our properties if we have the space to do so. This important action will help to mitigate the losses to our canopy and ensure our urban forest remains healthy for future generations.
Lauren explains the lifecycle of the EAB to the class.
After the workshops, students become EAB Ambassadors, sharing what they’ve learned with their families, friends and neighbours. The participating schools are competing to see how many trees and shrubs they can get planted through LEAF’s subsidized Backyard Tree Planting Program. The three top-selling schools will win school ground greening prizes from LEAF - trees, shrubs or garden kits for their schools!
Students got to take a close look at wood like this, damaged by EAB. The intricate galleries can be beautiful, but are deadly to the tree.
To support your local school, all you need to do is mention the program when you sign up for LEAF’s Backyard Tree Planting Program. And, as an added bonus, for a limited time (and while supplies last), we're offering an additional discount of $50 per tree and $5 per shrub for residents of York Region.
Spring 2016 Participating Schools:
- Father Frederick McGinn CES (Richmond Hill)
- Father Henri Nouwen CES (Richmond Hill)
- Good Shepherd CES (East Gwillimbury)
- Holy Name CES (King)
- Our Lady of Hope CES (Richmond Hill)
- San Lorenzo Ruiz CES (Markham)
- St. Cecilia CES (Vaughan)
- St. Michael The Archangel CES (Vaughan)
- St. Padre Pio CES (Vaughan)
LEAF would like to thank all of the enthusiastic students at our participating schools for helping us to spread the word about this important issue! To learn more about the Youth EAB Ambassador Program, click here.
LEAF’s Youth EAB Ambassador Program is supported by the Government of Ontario and York Region.
Melissa Williams is LEAF’s Program Manager.