On Earth Day about 200 Guelph high school students helped transform a field into a forest on the northeast edge of the city. Hundreds more will tromp into the site of the Rotary Forest Project on Saturday.
The land near Guelph Lake is owned and overseen by the Grand River Conservation Authority. Over the past eight years of planting, thousands of people have planted thousands of trees of all varieties.
The terrain has been rugged at times, but last year the trees started going in on a flat, open field. That work continues this year as part of Earth Day efforts. The project is expected to be completed by 2020.
Ron Wu-Winter, the GRCA forester, said about ten tree species were being planted Friday by the students, with sugar and silver maple, bur oak, white pine and sumac among them. The seedlings are both raised in GRCA nurseries and purchased from other nurseries, he said.
Rotary does the fundraising to purchase the trees and pay for planting expenses, while GRCA provides the planting stock, guides the planting work, and provides long-term management of the new forest, Wu-Winter added on Friday.
He oversaw the work being done by students from Centennial Collegiate Vocational Institute, Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute, and John F. Ross Vocational Institute.
Wu-Winter said the students were planting 1,400 trees on Friday in the field. Shovels, buckets and large piles of mulch were at the ready. Another 3,000 will be planted on Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., by families, corporate teams, youth groups and individuals.
“Most of these plantings have quite good results,” Wu-Winter said, referring to the viability of the young trees planted over the last eight years.
He said the overall project is one of the most unique he knows of because of the breadth of the volunteerism involved, the scale of the planting area, and the duration of it.
Earth Day is in its 46th year around the world. Its mandate is to do good things for the environment everywhere, including planting billions of trees, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, and promoting renewable energy.
Rotary Guelph started the forest project eight years ago to address some of these issues, seeing it as a way to absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutants, while providing habitat for wildlife, and a learning environment and refuge for people.
To take part in Saturday’s planting drive or bike to Lakeside Church on Conservation Road on the way to Guelph Lake. There is free parking there and a shuttle service to the planting site. There is also a free bus from platform 15 of Guelph Central Station on Carden Street, on the hour from 9 a.m. to noon.
The 13th annual Guelph Clean and Green Community Cleanup also happens on the Saturday, from 8:30-11:30 a.m. Last year about 750 people took part, removing 3,000 kilograms of trash from parks, ditches, forests and riverbanks.
With the Grain bakery and café is once again offering its Earth Day shortbread cookies, with $1.25 from each one sold going to the Grand River Conservation Foundation. It is located at 294 and 295 Woolwich Street.