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In October, staff and volunteers planted 125 new native trees in GreenUP Ecology Park. Some of the group is pictured here in the park alongside a handful of new educational signs associated with select species in the park. (Photo by Yvonne Hollandy, communications specialist, GreenUP)
By Tegan Moss, executive director, GreenUP
Editor’s note: In this week’s column, GreenUP executive director Tegan Moss shares some updates on the organizations efforts to restore the local canopy, and calls to the community help sustain this important work.
This summer was scorching. Average temperatures soared far above normal, local creeks ran dangerously low, and trees across the region struggled to survive the drought. It’s clear that the urgency of the climate crisis is escalating. So much is at risk.
Our community canopy has been hit hard in recent years: the Emerald Ash Borer, the Derecho of 2022, the ice storm this past spring, and now this summer’s drought. Our crops, our trees, and our most vulnerable relations all need protection.
We must take action now.
GreenUP’s Little Forest program supported the planting of 924 trees across four local schools in 2025. Pictured are students at Otonabee Valley Public School preparing the soil for planting day. (Photo by Laura Keresztesi, neighbourhood & residential programs coordinator, GreenUP)
At GreenUP, we know that trees are part of the solution. They capture carbon, lower temperatures, support mental health, and create habitat for countless species. That’s why we’re growing trees — right here, right now — in the heart of our community.
As part of our work in 2025, GreenUP partnered with Camp Kawartha and the PVNC Catholic School Board to deliver a project called Reconciling with the Land. GreenUP supported the project by facilitating schoolyard greening projects that connected to the Anishnaabemowin language learning programs at St. John Catholic Elementary School, St. Paul’s Catholic Elementary School in Lakefield, and the Curve Lake First Nation School. The 624 youth who participated in Reconciling with the Land programming all had opportunity to learn about the importance of trees.
GreenUP recently installed new feature signage in Ecology Park for 11 species of native trees. Photo by Yvonne Hollandy, communications specialist, GreenUP)
As part of our educational work this year, GreenUP also developed educational tree identification signage now installed at Ecology Park and on a trail regularly used by students at the Curve Lake School. When you next visit Ecology Park, we encourage you to give yourself extra time to learn about the 11 species we have new feature signage for. The signs provide stories about each species, provide pictures of the tree structure and leaf, and include names for the tree in English, Latin, and Anishnaabemowin.
Through our native plant propagation program at Ecology Park, we are on track to grow more trees than ever before. This year, as part of our plan to learn and teach about growing native trees we added six new air prune beds, each capable of producing more than 100 native tree seedlings annually. These seedlings will help restore canopy lost to drought and storms.
In 2025 alone, hundreds of children planted 924 trees at four local schools through our Little Forest program. Volunteers joined us to plant another 125 trees at Ecology Park. These are tangible steps toward a healthier future.
When renowned scientist Diana Beresford-Kroeger visited GreenUP this fall, she shared a simple but powerful solution: each of us must plant six native trees in the next six years. GreenUP is making that possible right here in Peterborough. Together we can achieve important climate action goals. Your support is essential to build the momentum.
Stephen Hill, longtime GreenUP champion and donor, puts it best: “GreenUP delivers tangible results here at home. This is solution-based work. As donors, we can fund solutions to big environmental challenges right here at home.”
GreenUP Ecology Park now boasts six new air prune beds, each capable of producing more than 100 native tree seedlings annually. In this photo, staff and volunteers are pictured planting in the newly built beds. (Photo by Hayley Goodchild, interim manager of landscape programs, GreenUP)
Our winter fundraising goal is $25,000. Every dollar helps us grow and plant more trees, welcome school groups and volunteers to Ecology Park, and teach practical ways to take climate action. A gift of just $35 allows us to grow a native tree from seed and nurture it right here in our community. Imagine the impact when hundreds of us come together to plant the future.
For more than 30 years, GreenUP has been a hub for community-based environmental action. Generations of local residents have learned how to live more gently on our planet through their connection with Ecology Park and GreenUP’s many climate action programs.
Now, as we face another season of climate challenges, your support is needed more than ever.
Please donate today to help GreenUP grow native plants in Ecology Park and plant those trees throughout our community. Together, we can cultivate a generation of action. Together, we can grow the future we all depend on.
The future starts today.
Donate now at GreenUP.ca