In the Blog: urban forest

Celebrating Cottonwood Flats

When the 100th anniversary committee was brainstorming ideas on how to celebrate our centennial, Jason Ramsay-Brown (Stewardship Committee lead and a past president of TFN) suggested we create a video about Cottonwood Flats. The video would cover the history of the location and our work in partnership with the city. Thankfully a volunteer, Jessica Nelson, Read More

Eastern White Pine: Cultural Icon and Herald of our Future

by David Wallace Barr What could be more iconic of northern Ontario for Toronto residents than a hardy Eastern White Pine, clinging to a rocky shoreline, buffeted by the winds, survivor of many storms? From ‘group of seven’ painters to today’s smartphone photographers, this image of the survivor of the gale has captured our imagination Read More

Mature Oak, Monarch Park

Could Toronto Oaks Become Yet Another Endangered Tree?

by David Wallace Barr In recent months we have seen some troubling headlines south of the border. “Oak trees in the Mid-Atlantic region are dying. Here’s why.” – the Washington Post (Nov 25, 2021. “Why White Oak Trees on Route 1 Are Dying” – The Hyattsville Wire (Dec 17, 2019). “Essential tree species facing decline” Read More

Toronto Trees Getting a Head Start

by David Wallace Barr The idea of an urban microclimate is probably not new to most of us. It’s been quite a while since we first heard a city described as a heat island, and it’s undoubtedly as true of Toronto as of any major North American or European city. The whole study of the Read More

Toronto Field Naturalists wishes to acknowledge this Land through which we walk. For thousands of years, the Land has been shared by the Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, and the Anishinaabe. Toronto is situated on the Land within the Toronto Purchase, Treaty 13, the traditional and treaty Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This territory is also part of the Dish with One Spoon Wampum, a covenant agreement between Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Wendat peoples and allied nations to peaceably share the land and all its resources. Today, the Land is home to peoples of numerous nations. We are all grateful to have the opportunity to continue to care for and share the beauty of this Land.