Urban Forests and Communities: Connected for a Resilient Future
Our mission is to support informed urban forest stewardship by creating accessible resources that engage and inspire communities.
My name is Sacha Curran and a lifelong interest in trees began with a backyard crabapple tree that erupted into a stunning display of white flowers each spring. Growing up near the Mill Creek Ravine, its quiet understory shaped my earliest sense of place.
Working in a busy garden center and tree nursery, conversations with customers about what tree would thrive where sparked a sustained interest for arboricultural learning.
Later, as a tree planter in northern Manitoba, I came to understand basic principles of forest regeneration, disturbance cycles, and the long timelines required to restore ecological function.
As a teacher, I noticed students, their families and my colleagues were all as interconnected and dependent on each other as the natural ecosystems I witnessed years earlier. Organizing student leadership initiatives highlighted the vital importance of collective action in building and sustaining a sense of community.
Returning to my early interests in trees, my capstone research project with the University of Guelph’s Horticulture program focused on urban forest ecology, invasive species ecology and management, and how community monitoring can protect and sustain urban forest health. This website was the outcome of that research. It is designed to make science and research accessible, actionable for anyone and everyone.
By working together to identify and report the presence of invasive tree pests such as emerald ash borer (EAB), communities contribute their local knowledge and lived experience toward the development of a real-time, province-wide, early warning network.
These collective actions are shaping more inclusive and equitable models of community participation in urban forest care.
