Little Forests

UPDATE: With online and offline donations combined we reached our goal! Thank you so much to everyone who has already helped to make our dream of Little Forests a success! With $5,000 secured, we will be able to plant our first three Little Forests.

We have heard from the community that there is a desire to continue supporting this project. With more funding, we will be able to enhance the size and quality of what we plant this fall and we hope you can support us in reaching our online target. Therefore, we have extended our contribution date until June 30th!

Keep an eye out for more details on our social media pages (@ptbogreenup) for progress on the Little Forests. If you are interested in volunteering with Little Forests, please add your name to our email list.

As the adage goes, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now. Let’s dig in! 

Peterborough has committed to have at least a 35% urban tree canopy by 2041 to meet climate targets. Many of this urban canopy relies on private property.  Without out-of-the box thinking, we simply do not have enough public land for enough trees. 

Enter little forests. The concept is simple: Like humans, trees live in communities. Trees will thrive when planted alongside complementary species, in healthy soil teeming with life. Guided by an afforestation method developed by botanist Akira Miyawaki, GreenUP would like to plant not just trees, but mini-forest ecosystems on private property. This method depends on carefully selected native species to be planted close together, in amended soil and cared for during the first few years. 

These ‘little forests’ will give back to our community many times over through increasing biodiversity, producing breathable air, enriching resilient soil, and supporting carbon capture. We are looking for community champions that will help us make this project a reality.

Little forests are popping up in cities all over the world. We want to do this work. We want to make it possible for you to do this work too. We need your help to raise enough to purchase trees, shrubs and associated materials to plant three little forests roughly the size of 3 parking spaces each in Peterborough/Nogojiwanong. 

Our goal is to plant 360 plants, and we need $5,000 in donations to be successful.

With your help, we can grow this pilot project into a program that blossoms for years to come. 

Pitch-in and spread roots:

Acorn donation: $40-$50 (roughly 1 sqm of amended soil + 3 trees/shrubs)

Seedling donation: $80-$100 (roughly 2 sqm of amended soil + 6 trees/shrubs)

Sapling donation: $160-$220 (roughly 4 sqm of amended soil + 12 trees/shrubs)

Understory donation: $400 (roughly 10 sq m of amended soil + 30 trees/shrubs)

Canopy donation: $800 (roughly 20 sq of amended soil + 60 trees/shrubs)

A little forest donation: $1600 (roughly 40 sq m of amended soil + 120 trees/shrubs)

All amounts donated are perfect and powerful. 

Email laura.keresztesi@greenup.on.ca for more information on how to host and/or fund the first little forests in Peterborough.

Thank you for reading and we look forward to bringing this project to life with support from folks like you!