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Richmondites invited to help plant 'pocket forest' to fight climate change

A tree planting event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at Richmond Secondary.
PocketForest
Richmond Secondary's Green Team is creating a small, dense forest around their school's outdoor learning space. Saturday, Nov. 19 is planting day.

Saturday is planting day at Richmond Secondary.

The school's Green Team is creating a "pocket forest," a mini forest of carefully selected trees with the intention of fighting climate change.

"This forest is being planted in hopes of rewilding and decolonizing the space, re-establishing biodiversity, mitigating climate change effects (sequestering carbon, excess precipitation, drought, heat domes, etc.), and creating a community space," explained Green Team president Serena Chin in a press release. 

The school's Green Team is planting the "Miyawaki Pocket Forest" in collaboration with Garden City Conservation Society and Earth Literacies.

In preparation, the environmentally focused school club dug one metre deep and mixed local compost and organic material as a base for the forest.

They are planting 30 species of trees that are native to the West Coast. To prepare for a climate shift, the trees are native to areas from Richmond to Oregon.

The community is invited to pocket forest planting from the 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Richmond Secondary, 7171 Minoru Blvd. 

This pocket forest project is sponsored by TreeCanada.