Microforest
Goal:
- GHG Reduction
- Decolonized land conservation strategies to honour our commitment to the Land and the stewardship of the Land by Indigenous peoples
- Demonstrate to College community and others alternative land management and stewardship practices
- Add another microhabitat:
- Used in program/course curricula for learning, assessment, and evaluation
- Increase campus biodiversity of flora and fauna
- Increase soil health to long term increase carbon capture in soil alongside the work of trees in GHG reduction
Interesting Notes:
- Dawson College Launches Haudenosaunee-Inspired Microforest to Advance Climate Action and Decolonization
Dawson College is set to transform a section of its urban campus with the creation of a Haudenosaunee-inspired Microforest, a project that blends Indigenous land stewardship practices with climate action, education, and community engagement.
Covering approximately 30 feet wide by 40 feet long, the Microforest is co-designed with Kanienkeha:ka members of Dawson’s Indigenous Community Table and is rooted in a land-first, anti-colonial approach. Using companionship planting, the forest will feature native trees such as sugar maple, red pine, basswood, cranberry bush, silver maple, mountain maple, alongside medicinal and native plants including white sage, wild grasses, shrubs like cranberry, and cedar.
Fast-growing plants and bushes will begin sequestering carbon immediately, while hardwood trees will provide long-term benefits including habitat creation, improved soil health, increased biodiversity, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and cooler summer temperatures through canopy cover.
The project directly supports Dawson College’s Strategic Plan 2024–2029, advancing commitments to Indigenization and environmental sustainability. It also expands the College’s Living Campus initiative, offering a dynamic outdoor learning space where students and faculty can engage in competency-based learning, assessment, and evaluation across disciplines.
Students and employees will collaborate on planting and maintaining the Microforest as part of hands-on learning and community-building activities. An interdisciplinary leadership team—including representatives from program development, social justice initiatives, environmental services, and facilities management—is overseeing implementation.
An extensive awareness-raising campaign will engage Dawson’s 12,000 students and employees, as well as the broader Montreal community. Outreach will include course integration across multiple departments, an official public launch event with workshops and speakers, ongoing data collection on biodiversity and climate impacts, campus tours, media outreach, and digital storytelling through Dawson’s sustainability platforms and social media.
