HUDSON’S BAY — After months of planning, a group of local women planted a tree on March 19 to honor the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II by participating in Vancouver’s Witness Tree Program.
Launched by then-Prince Charles in March 2021 to celebrate his mother’s Platinum Jubilee, The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative was created to encourage tree planting across the United Kingdom. The locally based Richmond chapter of the Daughters of the British Empire, immediately started to investigate how it might participate by planting a tree in a public spot in Vancouver.
The Daughters of the British Empire, a nonprofit society of women of Commonwealth of Nations birth or ancestry, was thrilled to hear of the Vancouver Witness Tree Program. This program allows residents to plant a tree in honor or in memory of a special person or event while also enhancing our urban forest.
“We are so grateful to the city of Vancouver, and especially Jessica George from the Urban Forestry department for helping us honor the Queen’s Jubilee, while doing a small part to increase the green canopy of Vancouver,” said Adrienne Hale, former Regent of the Vancouver Daughters of the British Empire and now president for the state of Washington. “This tree has the potential to grow 60 feet tall. As its broad canopy offers shade to Officers Row for years to come, it will also provide a beautiful reminder of Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign.”
