We extend our gratitude to all participants of the Trees for All 2023 campaign and to the landowners who expressed interest in planting trees on their private properties in collaboration with NPCA!

We appreciate your grace as you have waited patiently to receive information about when and how plantings will begin. We are pleased to share our progress and plans for 2024 so that those who remain interested in planting trees on their properties will know what to expect as we kick off the program this year.

While our goal is to be fully operational by 2025, NPCA’s Restoration team has been busy planning for this year’s planting season and securing funding partnerships to support a multi-year tree planting program. We have prioritized and accommodated several properties, and those landowners have been contacted to complete their planting preparations and operations have begun.

With Trees for All being a multi-year program, there are still many landowners who we have yet to connect with to confirm a future planting on their property. For those who have not heard from us to confirm a 2024 planting, rest assured that we are committed to connecting with you this summer. Once we do, we will coordinate visits to your property and discuss planting opportunities for implementation in 2025 or into the next few years.

We understand the importance of offering a feasible and accessible planting program and despite some unexpected delays, we remain dedicated to supporting landowners in their efforts to restore parts of their properties through naturalization and afforestation.

In the coming months, we look forward to announcing several funding partners whose support will significantly contribute to our goal of planting 1 million trees by 2031. This ambitious target encompasses both private and public lands, with active community engagement through community plantings.

To further support our tree planting efforts, NPCA continues to host community planting events throughout the watershed. We invite interested volunteers to stay updated on upcoming opportunities and events through our website, by registering as a volunteer, and/or contacting our Community Outreach and Stewardship team at volunteer@npca.ca.

Every landowner and property are valuable to the Trees for All program and key to its success. We acknowledge recent delays and apologize for any inconvenience they may have caused. Your ongoing patience as we continue to mobilize the program is appreciated.

If you have any outstanding questions, please contact gverkade@npca.ca.

The landowner and property data gathered in the spring of 2023 was used to submit funding applications to both the Federal 2 Billion Trees Small Scale Rural and Urban/Suburban tree planting streams in early June, with aspirations to plant 1 million trees across the Niagara Peninsula watershed by 2031.

Since then, we have received some initial inquiries related to the application and are waiting to hear back from the federal government on the success of our applications by December 2023. In the meantime, we continue to optimistically prepare to begin planting in the spring of 2024.

Every landowner application has been assessed and admitted into the program, and we are in the process of confirming our projected multi-year planting schedules.

• In considering ease of implementation once private land tree plantings begin in 2024, we have prioritized high volume opportunities (500+ trees per site) and have already connected with these landowners.
• We aim to contact those currently projected for planting in 2025 and beyond as soon as plans for 2024 are solidified. Subsequent years will follow this same process.
• Approximately 200 small residential properties estimated to hold less than 100 trees will also be contacted in the future with more information and next steps.
• Some sites, particularly those leaning towards reforestation, remain unscheduled as more time is required to assess planting needs, develop planting plans, and schedule specialized forestry resources.

Every landowner and property is valuable to this important project and we appreciate everyone's patience as we continue to follow up with more information, to schedule site visits, and confirm planting plans in the upcoming months. We have updated our Frequently Asked Questions and encourage all landowners to review these.

Since the program proposes a total of 1 million trees planted in the Niagara Peninsula watershed by 2030, should we be successful with our funding application, we anticipate launching a second callout for private landowner applications in 2024 to help reach this goal.

In the event that the Niagara Peninsula Tree Planting Partnership does not receive Federal 2 Billion Tree funding, the NPCA will endeavor to address the planting opportunities through its existing Restoration Grant Program and services, albeit likely through alternate planting scheduling.

Trees For All Goals:

• Set the Niagara Peninsula Tree Planting Partnership as a local aggregator for tree planting services in the Niagara Peninsula watershed;
• Plant 1 million trees by 2031 on both private and public lands with high civic engagement through community plantings;
• Enhance implementation services by prioritizing site preparation and tree maintenance complementary to planting activities and through prescription by forestry and ecological restoration professionals to ensure tree survival and optimize environmental co-benefits; and
• Establish and coordinate a formal community of practice for Carolinian seed collection in the Niagara Peninsula watershed, to source and supply native stock of sufficient variety and build biodiversity resilience through plantings.

Click here to read the article from Hamilton Spectator

Click here to read the article from Pelham Today

Click to read the article from Niagara Falls Review

Geoff Verkade from the NPCA chats with Steph Vivier from 610 CKTB

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW