If you’ve driven past Columneetza over the last six weeks, you may have noticed four new trees growing between the front parking lot and the library/office.
Although you can’t see it, they are working hard to expand their root systems in search of water and nutrients while they reach towards the sky seeking the sun’s energy.
The other part you don’t see is the hard work done by a few students that culminated in the planting of these trees.
The hope with these four trees is that the school and community will enjoy the shade, wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration and beauty for generations to come.
Julia Zirnhelt and Ella Kruus were Grade 9 students in the Spring of 2022 when they applied for and were awarded $500 from the Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF) fund for their suggested project.
This is just one action they have taken in a long list that started when they were in Grade 6.
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After presenting at conferences and organizing Friday for the Future marches over the last four years, they wanted to take more direct action.
They wanted to see carbon sequestered and communities better adapted to the hotter climate now.
To do this, they wrote letters to municipal governments asking for direct action on adaptation and mitigation and applied for funding to support projects starting now.
Their LSF project application outlined how they would source drought-tolerant, long-lived trees to plant at their school for the purpose of mitigating climate warming by sequestering carbon while also helping the school adapt to climate warming by reducing the urban heat island affect created by the pavement and buildings at Columneetza.
The parking lots, pavement and buildings absorb and retain heat in their vicinity, resulting in uncomfortably hot temperatures inside and outside the school during extreme heat events, like we experienced in June.
Research has shown you can reduce surface and air temperatures by 11-25 degrees Celsius with shade from trees and vegetation. These four trees are a step towards increasing the albedo (reflection of solar energy) of the Columneetza building and school yard. Another part of their project was to give teachers an opportunity to engage students in learning tied to climate adaptation and mitigation with these trees.
To ensure the trees planted would survive into the future and achieve their goal, Ella and Julia took several steps.
First, they had conversations with then Principal Craig Munroe to make sure trees were planted in a place that would work for the school and maintenance department. They also researched trees to find ones that are local to B.C. and/or drought tolerant, have root systems that won’t create problems for surrounding infrastructure, will grow big enough to provide substantial amounts of shade and will grow quickly.
They also had to find trees that were locally available. Their research brought them to purchase three Northern Red Oaks and one Ponderosa Pine tree as well as soil enhancers to give the young trees a good start.
Northern Red Oaks are known to grow over two inches per year for their first 10 years under ideal conditions. Ponderosa Pine are a tree expected to move into the Cariboo Chilcotin with increasing temperatures, expanding their range north from the Kamloops and Okanagan regions.
Julia and Ella are no longer students at Columneetza as they have progressed on to Grade 10 at W.L..
They were also both engaged in education opportunities outside of Williams Lake for their Grade 10 year, so weren’t available to plant the trees this spring.
To support them with this project, the three Northern Red Oaks were planted by school district maintenance staff with help from Shane Mennie while the Ponderosa Pine was planted by students from my Grade 7 class.
Trees were watered daily during the week throughout June by my Grade 7 students and other students at Columneetza. This helped the trees establish their root systems and survive the extreme heat experienced in June. They continue to be watered over the summer by school district staff with support from Shane Mennie.
Next time you drive past Columneetza, have a look at the growing school “forest” there and send thank you thoughts to the hard work of the students behind this project as well as the funds provided by the LSF charity.
If you want to know more about how to adapt to a hotter climate or take action yourself, research ways you can increase shade and carbon sequestration of the landscapes in our community and your own yard with thoughtful plantings of drought tolerant trees and vegetation.
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ruth.lloyd@wltribune.com
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