As socio-ecological systems, urban forests provide many environmental, ecological, economic, and social benefits to cities and people. However, they face considerable threat due to climate change and increasing urbanisation. Municipal governments lack the necessary capacity and resources to grow, manage and conserve urban forests in rapidly growing cities and require people to support their efforts. Several cities around the world encourage community engagement in the urban forest through awareness and education campaigns and by promoting stewardship. However, research from countries in the ‘global north’ indicates that ethnic minority communities or people of colour (POC) do not participate in nature conservation efforts due to socio-economic and cultural factors. This is concerning as socio-demographics of cities in these countries are changing due to inflow of immigrants from the ‘global south’. This demographic shift demands change in traditional community engagement practices.

My research on recent immigrant engagement in Toronto’s urban forest explores volunteer engagement practices in the field to identify ways in which these practices limit and/or enhance participation by racialized communities. In this qualitative case study, data was collected through multiple methods including interviews, participant observation, desk review and focus groups. Findings from the research suggest that community tree planting events are more successful in engaging diverse communities. Their volunteer recruitment strategy requires transactional agreement between conservation and community organisations. Stewardship programs on the other hand depend on the transactions between volunteers and urban forest conservation organisations. My research finds that the generic communication strategies used broadly by urban forest conservation organisations limit participation from diverse communities. Also, programs that couple environmental and social justice issues are more successful at engaging diverse communities than those that focus only on the environment.