REGINA — People who stroll along Les Sherman Park will notice upwards of 2,000 trees and shrubs scattered around the area. These trees are part of an effort to transform the park’s landscape and create a forested environment, explained Chris Sale, an organizer for the Cathedral Village Forest Project.
“We saw there wasn't as much tree diversity within the park as we would like to see to create habitat, to create shelter in the wintertime, to capture snow. Those are all the reasons we started down this road.”
The park has been a fixture for decades, with some trees standing since it first opened. However, Sale said there were a few trees planted afterwards to fill those gaps.
After kickstarting the idea for the project during COVID-19, the Cathedral Village Forest Project volunteers began planting seeds at Les Sherman Park in 2024.
“We planted around 4,500 seedlings. We had kids from Connaught Community School and Crescents School, and Holy Rosary at the time, and Sheldon Williams and Tom Collegiate all came out and planted one day,” said Sale.
One of those kids who came to help plant seeds is well-known climate activist Kiké Dueck, who said the project sparked his passion for plants.
“I started getting really interested in the trees after I learned about the project. And it's kind of like it inspired a passion in me,” he said.
Dueck said helping create a forest will help the surrounding plants and trees thrive.
“I love to see this, I like to see the birds come back. I love to see all the little critters crawling around in the grass. And it's just beautiful.”
The project’s future
The Cathedral Village Forest Project organizers used 2025 to assess what did and didn’t work in planting the seeds from 2024.
Sale said these results have helped indicate the types of plants to use moving forward.
“This year, we're planting a lot of willows, Manitoba maple trees, dogwoods, and a lot of poplars this year.”
Sale said a tree’s lifespan can range from 25 to 100 years, depending on the species.
Planting will begin on Friday, with local schools planting 800 trees. The remaining planting will then take place on Saturday.
A total of 2,250 trees and shrubs, provided by SaskPower, will be planted during the week.
Once they’ve all been planted, Sale said they’ll monitor the progress in 2027, with a potential gap year, as SaskPower won’t produce trees for the project.
The project will require continued maintenance for decades to come, with Dueck taking an interest in eventually leading it.
“This project can grow. Right now, we're at this little teeny section. But maybe we'll cross the creek. Maybe we'll continue to expand.”
Dueck also said this could be an inspiration for other projects.
“Maybe you could spread this across Regina and to other cities as well.”
In the next 10 years, Sale described what he hopes the park to look like.
“I'm hoping that it turns out to be a thick mixture of trees and shrubs. The bird song that we can hear now is even louder, and people continue to wander past and wander through the space, and we see kids playing in it and dogs playing in it and cross-country skiers moving through it in the winter and cyclists moving through it.”
The project is looking for volunteers to help with Saturday’s planting, with information on how to help available here.
