A group of Saanich youth celebrated the life of the Queen Monday by planting Douglas fir saplings for their neighbours.
When Claremont Secondary School Grade 10 student Matthias Spalteholz learned that the school had been given 190 saplings from an anonymous donor, he knew he had to try and find homes for all of them.
“Trees are one of the most important things to combat climate change,” said Spalteholz, who won the Saanich Environmental Youth Leadership Award in 2021 for organizing a beach cleanup to remove abandoned docks.
“If everyone pitched in, even if it’s just a small solution, they all add up and hopefully we can work together to make more solutions.”
Spalteholz went to his Institute for Global Solutions teacher Mark Neufeld, who supported the idea and suggested planting the trees as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy, a tree-planting initiative launched in 2021 to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Over a million trees have been planted as part of the initiative, which was extended into December following the Queen’s death Sept. 8.
“The idea is that in countries that were, at least, formerly considered to be Commonwealth countries, we need to replace the indigenous trees that have been lost over hundreds of years,” said Neufeld, who teaches Grades 9 to 12 at Claremont and is running for a councillor position in the Saanich election in October.
“It’s one of the most simple and effective climate solutions.”
On Monday, the goal was to find interested community neighbours through social media and, with help from friends and community members, plant at least 70 trees in honour of the Queen’s 70-year reign.
“I think for us today, the idea is to get out as many as we can. I have to recognize Matthias here, he comes to me at the beginning of every year with a smile on his face about something,” Neufeld said. “This year it was, ‘I have 190 seedlings, we need to plant them!’
“Every time he comes to me, I know that something big is going to happen.”
