The Mending Ground tree planting project has kicked off this fall at Thousand Islands National Park.
4,000 trees will have been planted as the season wraps up this week, with the park’s focus being on restoring a former quarry on Hill Island that was active over 50 years ago to a forested habitat.
The Mending Ground project will aim to plant as many as 18,000 trees in that quarry, with a goal of planting 38,000 trees throughout the park in 10 years.
The project falls under the umbrella of the federal government’s 2 Billion Trees program, which is providing up to $3.2 billion over 10 years to support efforts by provinces, not for profits, and Indigenous organizations to plant trees.
Mary Beth Lynch, the Mending Ground Project Lead, says the planting project – and in particular planting within the quarry – has been something that park staff have hoped to do for a while, and the boost in funding from the 2 Billion Trees program has allowed it to happen.
“We’ve had this project in our minds as something we’d like to do for a number of years,” Lynch said.
“Through the 2 billion trees initiative we were able to get the extra funding that we needed to purchase the fencing, get the staff hired to plant the fencing and then plant the trees. It’s something that we’ve been wanting to do for a while.”
Part of the cost for this area of Hill Island which has struggled to see regrowth on its own is fencing to keep deer out of certain sections, and keeping some staff on for an extended season to help plant.
The area is home to species at risk including the gray rat snake and Blanding’s turtle, and Lynch says it could really benefit from the restoration work.
“Not just are we restoring the landscape back to a forest habitat, but we’re also creating a habitat or a home for a number of species including species at risk. ” Lynch said.
“It’s an area where we can really make a difference through this project.”
The fall planting season is coming to a close, but Thousand Islands National Park is hoping to bring in more volunteers and school groups for the 2024 spring and fall planting seasons to help reach their 38,000 tree goal by 2031.
The 2 Billion Trees initiative started in 2021, and has supported the planting of over 110 million trees in two years.
