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ONTARIO PLANTS TREES AND CELEBRATES EARTH DAY
McGuinty Government Fights Climate Change
Ontario is celebrating Earth Day in Elgin County by planting trees with the Forests for Life program.
Forests for Life is an Ontario Stewardship program that provides hands-on learning for youth through community tree planting projects.
The Minister of Natural Resources Donna Cansfield was joined by students from East Elgin Secondary School, St. Joseph’s High School and Woodstock and District Developmental Services to plant trees at Elgin Community Nursery.
Tree planting is part of the government’s commitment to fight climate change. Ontario is planting more than 50 million trees by 2020 through two tree planting programs. Planting for the 50 Million Tree program and the Urban Tree Planting programs begins this spring.
The Ministry of Natural Resources is partnering with Trees Ontario to plant more than one million trees by June and an estimated two million trees in 2009. The ministry is also partnering with Evergreen to plant 100,000 trees in cities across the province by the end of 2009.
QUOTES
“Tree planting is an essential tool in our fight against climate change,” said Donna Cansfield, Minister of Natural Resources. “By working together we can make Ontario an even healthier place to live now and for future generations.”
“Forests for Life provides youth with hands-on learning through tree planting projects. This helps make our communities healthier places to live,” said Jay Campbell, Honorary Chair, Forests for Life.
“This is the single largest tree planting commitment we have seen in Ontario in a long time,” said Michael Scott, President and CEO, Trees Ontario. “We are working with our partners to put 50 million thriving trees in the ground by 2020.”
“Evergreen works with hundreds of communities and schools across Ontario. By educating through direct participation such as planting a tree, people can see they are making a difference,” said Geoff Cape, Executive Director, Evergreen.
QUICK FACTS
- Trees clean the air, provide shade, increase wildlife habitat, help prevent flooding, store carbon and fight the impact of climate change.
- Planting 50 million trees will remove 3.8 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide from atmosphere. That is equivalent to 172 million car trips from Toronto to Barrie.
LEARN MORE
Plant a tree and help save the environment through the 50 Million Tree or the Urban Tree Planting programs.
You may also read the Backgrounder for this item.
Below are pictures from the April 22 Earth Day event in Alymer, Ontario with Minister Cansfield, Trees Ontario, Ontario Stewardship, Evergreen, local stewardship councils and local high school students.
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