Otonabee Conservationwrapped up the fall tree planting season on November 5th by planting a Sugar Maple at Memorial Park in partnership with City of Kawartha Lakes.
In 2019, Otonabee Conservation conducted plantings on 24 sites throughout the watershed, putting 43,494 native trees and shrubs in the ground. Their plantings engaged over 450 students and volunteers from across the region.
“Planting trees is as an effective way to mitigate climate change by removing atmospheric CO2 from the air,” say Dan Marinigh, CAO of Otonabee Conservation. “Working with landowners and partners to plant trees is a great way for us to work together to build natural resilience in our watershed.”
When trees are first planted, a large proportion of the annual exchange of CO2 goes into growing the tree’s woody biomass. As a tree grows, it continues to sequester carbon through its annual growth rings, along with a proportion that is drawn from leaf litter, which becomes incorporated into the soil below the tree each fall. Trees are beneficial for many reasons: They clean the air, help us to stabilize soils, increase the value of property, create habitat, and improve our health.