A free workshop on tree planting will be held in Fergus at 7pm on Jan. 31 in the Aboyne Hall, at the Wellington County Museum.
While there is no cost, space is limited and advance registration is strongly recommended. Call Trees Ontario at 1-877-646-1193 for information and to register.
The workshop will be of most interest to landowners who would like to plant large numbers of trees. It will focus on incentive programs for planting trees, tree planting techniques and the Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program (MFTIP) that can reduce a land owner’s property taxes by up to 75 per cent.
Trees Ontario, the Grand River Conservation Authority, The Wellington County Green Legacy Tree Nursery, and the Wellington County Stewardship Council are co-hosting the workshop. It is one of a series being offered in southern Ontario where there is an urgent need for more trees.
“When people learn that tree planting within the watershed has decreased ten-fold from a million trees a year in the 1980s to 100,000 trees a year today, they are shocked,” said Nathan Munn, a forestry specialist with the GRCA. However, the trend is beginning to turn around now that landowners can use new and expanded sources of financial support and technical information.
The GRCA has worked with landowners since 1954 and helped them plant 26 million trees during that time. The benefits of planting trees as windbreaks, shelterbelts and buffers can help a farmer’s bottom line by raising crop yields, reducing costs for heating and cooling and cutting snow removal costs.
Of course there are many environmental benefits too. Trees enhance property, reduce the environmental footprint, fight climate change and improve air quality, Munn said.
More information is at www.treesontario.on.ca and www.grandriver.ca in the forestry section.
