Canada to plant two billion new trees over 10 years
The federal government believes its new plan to plant two billion new trees across Canada over a decade will make a dent in climate change.
“We know that one of the best tools we have to fight climate change is nature. Our government is on track to plant two billion trees, which will go a long way to restore wildlife habitats, fight climate change, and improve the livability of our cities,” said Steven Guilbeault, the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, in today’s Surrey announcement on the national strategy, which is literally named the “2 Billion Trees” program.
“This latest round of tree planting projects announced in British Columbia are yet another positive step forward in reaching our goal.”
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According to the federal government, it has already supported the planting of over 110 million trees since the program was launched two years ago in 2021.
Today’s strategy also came with funding announcements to support the ambitious target, including $100 million to support the planting of the next 56 million trees as part of the program, and $64 million to plant 35 million trees to help restore wildfire-impacted forests.
Tree planting will not only help address climate change but also reduce the risk of wildland fires and floods.
A significant amount of coordination and collaboration will be required between all three levels of government for tree-planting efforts on public lands, as well as non-government organizations and Indigenous groups.
According to the federal government, Canada has nearly 3.62 million acres of forests, which covers more than one-third of the country’s land area. Canada is the third-largest forested area in the world, with much of this forest growing within the boreal zone. It is also estimated the country has roughly 318 billion trees.
Map of Canada’s forests and tree types. (Government of Canada)
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