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Tree-mendous Partnership: London Community Foundation works closely with the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority to support the greening of our community.
Trees have become associated with the work of the Foundation, which plants and nurtures projects with the potential to grow and enrich our community. Small wonder, then, that the Foundation has formed a strong partnership with the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) to support several major tree-planting initiatives.
UTRCA is one of 36 Authorities across Ontario charged with safeguarding rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands and natural habitats. Representatives from the UTRCA participated in forums convened by London Community Foundation in 2003 and 2004 to discuss how best to tackle environmental issues in the City. The Authority received a strategic grant from the Foundation to support naturalization projects in the Thames River corridor. Naturalization, the process of returning land to its natural state by planting trees and shrubs, brings many benefits, including better water and air quality and a natural habitat for wildlife.
Projects were soon under way in Stoneybrook, Watson Park, Oxford Park, at Wonderland and the Thames, and along the North London sports fields.
“We get a much bigger bang for our buck by doing corridors and linkages,” explains Teresa Hollingsworth, Coordinator of Community and Corporate Services at UTRCA. A second grant extended the project through a second phase in 2005.
Hollingsworth says the Foundation’s grants are especially important as seed money to attract other partners, both public and private. “We’re always trying to take $5 and turn it into $50,” she says. “The Foundation’s great reputation helps us sell projects to other funders.”
The UTRCA also received a donation from a donor-advised fund held at the Foundation to support an innovative “pits and mounds” project. In a natural forest, trees die and fall over, creating holes and hummocks of soil where water and seeds collect. A new approach to naturalizing, “pits and mounds” mimics this natural process. “The grant from London Community Foundation enabled us to try this approach in several more places,” says Hollingsworth.
“The more you do these things, the more likely they will become acceptable practice.”
The UTRCA provides technical expertise to ReForest London 150, a project to plant trees throughout the city. The Foundation provided a founding grant to the Urban League of London to partner with the UTRCA and the ReForest London 150 team.
Hollingsworth says London Community Foundation is an ideal partner to work with in improving London’s natural environment. “The people at the Foundation are sincerely trying to make their money go as far as possible, and they really care about the outcome of the programs they support,” she says. “With their help, a lot of good work has been done in the last three years.”