NURSERIES: THE GREEN LEGACY FEASIBILITY STUDY Amber Cantell & - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

A CLOSER LOOK AT COMMUNITY TREE NURSERIES: THE GREEN LEGACY FEASIBILITY STUDY

Amber Cantell & Brianne Curry

• Nov. 2, 2018

The Challenge

 The Million Tree Challenge

 History  How do we significantly increase tree planting

in London?

What is a community tree nursery?

“A nursery facility which grows trees for direct use (i.e., not for sale) in community planting programs and/or for distribution to residents.”

What is a community tree nursery?

 Can be run by:

 Municipalities  Conservation authorities  Charities  Not-for profit grassroots groups

 Depending on operating model, may

include extensive volunteer and environmental education opportunities

Wellington County’s Green Legacy Programme

 Launched in 2004 to celebrate

Wellington’s 150th

 Built nursery on donated land  Grew 150,000 seedlings for distribution  Over 2 million trees planted to date Believed to be the largest municipal

tree planting program in North America

Our Objectives

 Assess the feasibility of

a “Green Legacy” model

 Describe “as-is”  Explore: for urban areas  Explore: for London

 Create assessment tools

that could be used by any community

The Partners

 ReForest London (charity)

 Million Tree Challenge

 City of London (single-tier municipality)

 Canopy cover targets (22% -> 28% by 2035)

 Upper Thames River Conservation

Authority

 Forest cover goals

 School Boards (TVDSB, LDCSB)

 Environmental education objectives

Methodology

 Shadowing & documenting @

Wellington

 Create operating manual

 Interviews with other nurseries,

past and present

 What causes CTNs to succeed? What

causes them to fail?

 Business case modelling  Infrastructure assessment

About the Green Legacy Programme: People Power!

 Nursery is volunteer-driven and

education-focused

 Main volunteers: elementary

school students

 52 other volunteer groups  763 unique adult volunteers and

co-op students

 Over 13,000 volunteers last year  Staff:  4 permanent full time staff  1 x 9-month Nursery Lead Hand  8 seasonal staff Student volunteers transplanting seedlings

2017 Production at the Green Legacy

Conifer Plugs, 70% Conifer Potted , 8% Hardwood Plugs, 20% Hardwood Potted , 2%

Distribution of trees

Municipal Tree Days, 35,000 Conservation Authorities, 50,000 Individual

• rders, 57,000

Annual Warden's Planting, 3,000 Outplants, 20,000

Over 100,000 trees are “spoken for” before orders are open to the public on October 1 each year.

About the Green Legacy Programme: Finances

 2018 Operating Budget: $796,300

 162,000 trees (90% seedlings)/year  Program is 100% municipally funded (less

than 2% Wellington’s municipal budget)

 Initial Capital: ~$755,000

 Heritage building renovation (office)  Cooler building  Greenhouses  Washroom building and picnic pavilions

Two Facilities (North/South)

As part of the program, Wellington County covers the cost of all busing for participating schools

Other Case Studies Explored

 Burford Nursery  Warwick Nursery  Greening of Detroit Nursery  Forests for Life Program  Others known:  Land Care Niagara  City of Calgary  City of Saskatoon

Benefits of a CTN

• Fill gaps in regional supply, and allow planting
• rganizations to plant more, reliably

Consistent supply

• Planting organizations can plant what is wanted and

needed, and plan for future needs

• Locally adapted seed and plants; controlled seed sourcing

Control over growing

• Community nurseries generate significant value beyond

the value of stock itself, including numerous social and educational benefits Value

Benefits of a CTN

• Engaging children and the community in the growing of

trees will drive tree planting and inspire individuals to participate Inspire planting

• Meet local demand for hands-on experiential education
• pportunities.
• Facilitate a deeper understanding of urban forestry issues

and trees. Environmental Education

• Reduce administrative burden and create efficiencies by

single sourcing, reduced travel distances “One stop shopping”

Why a community nursery?

 Current planting rates insufficient to meet

targets

 Must either spend more or find ways to

do more with what resources are available

 Volunteers:  Provide valuable inkind and leveraging  Opportunities for landowner

engagement that just buying more trees can’t do

 City-building, environmental education

and cultural shifts

Our Outputs

 Feasibility Study Report  Modelling Tool  Operations Manual  All available for download at:  http://reforestlondon.ca/

green-legacy-feasibility- study

 Feedback welcome!

Exploring the Modelling Tool: Stock Considered

 Stock Types Included:  Seedlings  Small potted stock (1-3 gal)  Large potted stock (4-10 gal)  Pot-in-pot caliper (15 gal)  Shrubs  Domestic fruit trees  Excluded…  Bareroot stock  B&B caliper trees

Exploring the Modelling Tool

Developing Scenarios for London: Impacts of an Urban Context

Example - Comparing London to Wellington:

City of London Wellington County Population, 2016 383,822 90,932 Land Area (km2) 420 2,600 Population Density per km2 913 35 Annual Municipal Budget $572,469,000 $213,500,000

Developing Scenarios for London: Impacts of an Urban Context

 Need for fewer, but bigger trees

 Each landowner likely to plant far

fewer trees

 Need for much more time spent on

marketing and talking with landowners

 More people, more financial

resources, more possible partners,

less land

Example Scenarios

 Our scenarios…

 All trees are distributed completely

free to community partners, residents

 Cover all busing for students  All use the same mortality & inflation

rates

 All assume the same staff for planting

and distribution programs

Caliper trees assumed to be planted

by contractors and mainly grown by staff

Example Scenarios

Scenario A: All trees for London (seedlings, small & large potted, 15 gal “pot in pot” caliper, fruit, + some shrubs) ~60,000 trees/year Scenario B: As above, less domestic fruit and caliper trees ~46,000 trees/year

Example Scenarios: Results

Scenario A (all trees) Scenario B (no caliper or fruit) Total Plants Distributed 59,938 45,930 Annual Operating Cost $1,344,523 $1,118,985 Annual Project Value (to purchase and plant the annual supply) $2,576,201 $1,513,248 Initial Capital Cost $2,206,073 $1,067,999 Acres 11.0 1.4 Volunteer Hours 25,020 24,770 Effective FTEs (paid staff and discounted volunteer labour) 27.7 24.7

Key Findings: Models

 CTNs could produce 30% operational

savings (project value) over commercial

cost

 Thanks to the high level of volunteer

engagement

 But highly scenario dependant

 Caliper trees could generate considerable

cost-savings for a communities with high demand (e.g. boulevards)

 Major implications for capital costs, space

Key Findings: Models

 Our models: big leap in

trees supplied in year 4 and reach capacity in

year 8

 CTNs are highly active

and provide opportunities for thousands of

volunteers every year

Conclusions

Community tree nurseries can be a feasible game- changing, community- building way to achieve urban forestry and environmental education goals

Many thanks to our project partners…

 Wellington County  City of London  London District Catholic School Board  Thames Valley District School Board  Upper Thames River Conservation Authority

And to the project funders:

And to you!

 Thank you for listening!  Questions?