Trees Ontario: Ontarians Digging In to Turn Ontario Green on 50 Million Tree Weekend

Toronto, May 5, 2009 – On Mother’s Day weekend, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Trees Ontario and its planting partners will host five free community tree planting events as part of the first annual 50 Million Tree Weekend. Planting events will take place in Guelph, Alliston and Mississauga on May 8 and Whitchurch-Stouffville (near Newmarket) and Kingston on May 9.

Organized in support of the highly successful 50 Million Tree Program, the first annual 50 Million Tree Weekend will help kick off the spring planting season and provide an easy way for communities to contribute significantly towards greening up the province.

Families are invited to celebrate Mother’s Day weekend in a unique and special way by attending a tree planting event and creating their own family tree planting legacy.

Over the next six weeks, Trees Ontario is expected to plant approximately two million trees as part of the Ontario government’s 50 Million Tree program, which will see 50 million trees planted in southern Ontario by 2020. This is the single largest commitment to the United Nations Billion Tree Campaign aimed at planting one billion trees worldwide each year.

On Saturday, May 9, Donna Cansfield, Minister of Natural Resources, will join the Boys and Girls Clubs of Ontario, York Region representatives, the Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation, local environmental and community groups, volunteers, families, mothers and residents at a tree planting event in Whitchurch-Stouffville near Newmarket, Ontario.

Trees Ontario planting partners and forestry experts will be onsite at all five events offering short tree planting tutorials to teach everyone the proper techniques to ensure a successful tree planting. Participants will then plant native trees in the designated afforestation areas. Each planting event is four hours in length, and participants will be taking part in a planting activity for approximately two hours.

Families are invited to celebrate Mother’s Day in a unique way by planting trees to create their own family legacy.

Media are invited to join the tutorials and tree planting events across the province.

For more information and to register to participate in one of these five free events, please visit: www.50milliontreeweekend.com

WHAT: Ontario’s 50 Million Tree Weekend

DATE: Friday, May 8

WHERE: GUELPH/ERAMOSA
            Guelph Rotary Forest
            Guelph Lake Conservation Area
            7743 Conservation Dr., RR 4
WHEN:   10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
WHO:     Representatives from the Grand River Conservation Authority
            Local school groups from the Guelph
            Lake Nature Centre

WHERE: NEAR ALLISTON
            Tosorontio Concession Road 3
            (North of 5th sideroad)
            Adjala-Tosorontio
WHEN:   10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
WHO:     Mary Brett, Councillor, Township of Adjala-Tosorontio
            Tom Cook, Councillor, Township of Adjala-Tosorontio
            Students from St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School
            Representatives from South Simcoe Streams Network

WHERE: MISSISSAUGA
            Pine Cliff Park, Pine Cliff Drive
            (Northwest of Creditview/Britannia)
WHEN:  10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
WHO:    George Carlson, Councillor, City of Mississauga
            Representatives from Credit Valley Conservation Authority
            Representatives from CVC’s Conservation Youth Corps

DATE: Saturday, May 9

WHERE: WHITCHURCH-STOUFFVILLE
            East of Newmarket
            York Regional Forest Bendor and Graves Tract, Davis Drive
            (Between Kennedy and McCowan)
WHEN:   10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
WHO:    Donna Cansfield, Minister of Natural Resources
            Michael G. Scott, President and CEO, Trees Ontario
            Wayne Emmerson, Mayor, Whitchurch-Stouffville
            Sandra Morris, Regional Director, Capacity Building and Community Affairs,
            Boys and Girls Clubs of Ontario
            Representatives from York Region
            Representatives from Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation

WHERE: KINGSTON
            Lemoine Point Conservation Area,
            1990 Front Road
WHEN:   9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
WHO:    Dorothy Hector, Board Member, Cataraqui Region CA
            Jane Murphy, Vice-President, Friends of Lemoine Point

Trees Ontario
Trees Ontario, working with its partners, is the largest, not-for-profit tree planting partnership in North America. It is committed to the re-greening of Ontario through a range of tree planting activities. Trees Ontario is also partnering with the Ministry of Natural Resources to help deliver the Ontario government’s commitment to plant 50 million trees by 2020.

The goal of Trees Ontario is to restore the province’s tree planting capacity, especially throughout southern Ontario on private lands, by providing funding and planning support for its tree planting partners. These include local Conservation Authorities, Ontario Stewardship Councils, municipal governments and community volunteer groups. This spring, with its partners, Trees Ontario will plant close to three million trees. Visit the Trees Ontario website at www.treesontario.ca.

50 Million Tree Program
In August 2007, the Ontario government introduced a program to fund the planting of 50 million trees across the province by 2020, as part of its commitment to help fight climate change and green the province.

The 50 Million Tree Program is Ontario’s commitment to the United Nations Billion Tree Campaign. The program is also the most ambitious program of its kind in North America and the largest goal of any jurisdiction, anywhere.

The 50 Million Tree Program can significantly cut landowners’ costs of large-scale tree planting and boost the number of trees planted.

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For Media inquiries, please contact:
Paul Tyler, GoldFenix Communications, tel: 905-235-7285, email: pt@goldfenixcom.ca
Victoria Ollers, GoldFenix Communications, tel: 416-822-2288, email: vo@goldfenixcom.ca