WE NEED TO PLANT 54M TREES IN GREENBELT: NATURE GROUP

SOUTHERN ONTARIO NATURE COALITION SAYS TREES WILL HELP CANADA REACH 30 PER CENT HEALTHY FOREST COVER GOAL

The Southern Ontario Nature Coalition (SONC) says 54 million trees need to be planted in Ontario's Greenbelt and the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) area to reach Canada's climate goals.

The group consists of provincial, regional, and community-based conservation groups, land-based policy experts, and Indigenous consultants that respond to federal promises to protect the environment.

They say planting 54 million trees will achieve Environment and Climate Change Canada's 30 per cent healthy forest cover goal and will help reach future goals of 40 to 50 per cent forest cover and selfsustaining natural systems/species.

The Greenbelt Foundation is a charitable organization that protects green space along southern Ontario, which includes a variety of lands in Caledon.

They say adding this many trees will help protect water and air quality, reduce risks of flooding, beat extreme heat waves, connect people to nature, provide jobs, and make communities more climate resilient.

"In addition to traditional ecological benefits, increasing tree cover can reduce the urban heat island effect and make people more comfortable during the more intense heat waves we are starting to experience by providing shaded areas for heat relief and reducing overall temperatures," said Greenbelt Foundation CEO Edward Mcdonnell. "Recent research sponsored by the Greenbelt Foundation shows that areas near increased tree cover can feel up to 11 degrees cooler."

The foundation found that more than 5,000 hectares of woodland have been lost in the GGH since 2000, but 27 per cent of near-urban natural areas are available for tree planting.

The lands they think are appropriate for planting include conservation lands and municipal forests in the Greenbelt, community green spaces, trails systems in the Niagara Escarpment, buffer zones around river valleys, marginal farmlands, the Bruce Peninsula, and shoreline areas along Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe.