Calgarians won’t have to go out on a limb to branch out their learning this weekend, as the first-ever Tree Party helps to plant the seed of interest in the city’s urban forest.

Or in some cases, the lack thereof.

Volunteers from Women Who Get Shit Done along with the Calgary Climate Hub are hosting the Tree Party to get people active in tree planting, yard naturalization, pollinator gardens, and more aspects of the urban forest in the city.

Druh Farrell, one of the event organizers, said that the goal was to create a festival-type atmosphere where trees are celebrated and citizens want to help grow the city.

“We’re learning more and more how important they are to health, and for the health of the city. They help cool our city. They provide comfort. We know that they have impacts on mental health,” Farrell said.

“We know with a warming city, that they’re even more important to provide shade and cooling. The City has had a goal for many, many years of 16 per cent tree canopy, and we’ve been stuck at about 8 per cent for decades. So, how do we help the city achieve the goal of 16 per cent and go beyond it?”

Edmonton-based urban ecologist Dustin Bajer will speak at the event, providing his insights from tactical urbanist planting and other ways to increase the density of plants in cities.

“There is no reason why cities can’t be among the most biodiverse systems on the planet, and, in fact, they are. Forests, like cities, are places for maximizing connections, finding niches, and creating webs of opportunity and abundance,” Bajer said, via media release

“A forest is a city, and a city is a forest.”

Farrell said that it has been hard for the City of Calgary to plant trees on public land and ensure that they are taken care of, and that will need the support of communities.

“We’ve certainly discovered over the years that there are a lot of trees that die just from lack of care. It’s a dry climate. We’ve been having hotter, drier summers. So, how can citizens help? We know from other cities, experience in other cities, that citizens want to partner with the city in providing that care,” Farrell said.

“They need to know what kind of care to provide and how to provide it. We want to make it easy for the city to help achieve their goal.”

She said that despite Calgary being in a difficult zone for trees, it doesn’t mean that trees can’t be grown successfully.

Talking tree equity is also an important part of the event, said Farrell.

“In order to meet those goals, we’re also going to be talking about tree equity. There are parts of the city that are very underplanted, in some cases, will never have a tree canopy because of the way they’ve been developed. How can we do better in the future, when building our city,” she said.

“The downtown, as an example, is a bit of a blind spot. There are parts of the downtown with 1000s of people living with no tree coverage, no canopy, and so how can we ensure that those residents have access to green space?”

The festival is being held on May 31 at the Alexandra Centre Hall in Inglewood, starting at 9 a.m. and running until 1 p.m.

Joining in is free, but attendees are being asked to register on Eventbrite at www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-tree-party-tickets-1334100312949.