Matthew Higginson's posts

Milne Hollow is located along the Don Valley, sitting between the edges of Scarborough and North York. Surrounded by a major highway in what is a former industrial site, it is one of the most magnificent examples of how diverse our canopy can be. When I first arrived I was struck by the way it stood beaming with colour, so full of life. This is no accident – the city of Toronto has been working to renaturalize this site for over a decade and in 2011 LEAF signed on to help them achieve their goals.

As you know, 2011 has been the International Year of Forests according to the United Nations. So it seems fitting that we saw over one hundred people take our Tree Tenders Volunteer Training program this year. And to say "its been a busy year for them" would be an understatement...

Few things are more inspiring than planting a living thing and knowing it is going to grow. And rarely do I meet people who plant only for themselves - whether it’s in a community garden or your own backyard - there always seems to be an urge to share it with others. That being said, I was still a little thrown off when they told me I would be spending a day in the field planting trees – after all, I had signed on to be in communications, not planting boots...

Last Thursday we were honoured to be voted Toronto's "best activist organization" by NOW Magazine readers for the second year a row. Over the past decade and a half we’ve been working tirelessly to raise awareness around urban forest issues, empower citizens and encourage them to take action through planting and education.