Relationship building is at the core of Forests Ontario. Through a nationwide network of environmental agencies, they’re working to increase forest cover, restore forests impacted by natural disasters and improve forest conditions.
They’re the only organisation in Canada to oversee every aspect of successful large-scale tree planting, from seeds to thriving forests. That’s why this month, we’re proud to support Forests Ontario’s 50 Million Tree Program.
Forests Ontario’s 50 Million Tree Program
Chief Executive Officer and Registered Professional Forester Rob Keen explains 50 Million Tree Program is “a program focused on large-scale tree planting with the intent of increasing the [number] of new forests on the landscape.”
The Program helps reduce the cost of tree planting for landowners, resulting in an increase in the number of forests that provide wildlife habitat, among other health benefits for our communities and local environment. But, what is involved in Forests Ontario’s tree planting process?
Forests Ontario’s team members and structure
Forests Ontario’s focus on relationship building, through end-to-end tree planting processes, has enabled them to build a robust team of partners that work from the selection of a singular seed to the growth of entire forests.
Forests Ontario works with a network of trained seed collectors to identify and select source-identified high-quality seeds throughout the province of Ontario.
Landowners see the benefits of partnering with Forests Ontario by increasing tree coverage on their land and doing their part to help combat the effects of climate change.
Many team members at Forests Ontario work together every day to develop thriving forests across Ontario and nation-wide.
A commitment from seed to forest
It’s not just Forests Ontario’s network of partners that makes them different from other tree-planting organisations. Their commitment to monitoring plantings throughout their life cycle helps ensure the seeds they plant go on to become strong trees. From quality assessments during planting, the team then monitor the growth of trees for up to five years.
With supporters like AnswerConnect, Forests Ontario and Forest Recovery Canada have planted over 38.7 million trees to date.
Want to learn more about AnswerConnect’s previous tree-planting partners? Check out our One Tree One Planet initiative here.
Images courtesy of Forests Ontario.
