Popular free tree program ends as funding dries up

A well-liked program that offered free trees to Londoners in an effort to make the Forest City even greener is coming to an end, its organizers announced Sunday.

ReForest London, which says it issouthwestern Ontario's largest environmental charity and works to preserve and expand the city's tree coverage, said the loss of a critical funding source means the Neighbourhood Tree Depot program will end this season.

"Unfortunately one of our major funders, which funded the majority of the program for a very long time, could no longer provide that funding at all," said Shaquille Sealy, co-director of ReForest London

Sealy did not name the funder or say how much the grant was worth.

The program, which has been operating since 2005, sees temporarydepots pop up in neighbourhoods across the city. Londoners are invited to visit the depots to claim free young trees and seedlings which can be planted on their property.

It was an important part of the push forReForest'sMillion Tree Challenge an initiative to inspire Londoners to plant one million new trees across the city. That challenge's current status is just over 500,000 trees planted, Sealy said.

Now, thousands of free trees later, the end of the program marks a serious hit to ReForest's efforts, if only temporarily, Sealy said.

"The majority of land in London is privately owned, so in reality, if we're trying to meet our tree planting goals we have to find a way to engage private land owners," Sealy said."Residential is one way to do that. The giveaways were a wayfor us and for the city to achieve the planting goals andcanopy [cover] goals by allowing Londoners to get twofree trees per year for their private property."

Those two free trees went a long way, he said, noting that roughly 6,000 trees were handed out through the program every year.

ReForest London is currently building a tree nursery at Westminister Ponds, and the hope is in the next two years enough trees will be available to revive the program,Sealy said.

"[The nursery] will distribute 10,000 trees into the community every year when it's at capacity," he said.

"Some of those trees will be allocated for giving away into the community, AKA bringing back the Neighbourhood Depot program. "

Moving forward, Sealy also says ReForest encourages local businesses and organizations to consider partnering with the charity to sponsor future free tree events. He said ReForest is looking for opportunities to discuss new partnerships for 2025 with businesses who are interested.

"The end of the program for nowdoesn't mean that we're reducing the ways that we're engaging with the community. They're just changing," he said.

"The nursery is going to havemany amazing new ways for the community to engage with us,for the community to really show that they care about trees and care about the environment within London."