Roughly 130 trees have been planted at a green space near Bloomfield Road.
The Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority (LTVCA), Enbridge gas, and NatureCK teamed up for the tree planting initiative that took place on Friday morning.
Approximately 30 volunteers took part in the event, which saw the planting of native Carolinian trees go up on Arrowhead Lane.
The tree planting is beneficial to the community for many reasons, according to Greg Van Every, the Conservation Services Coordinator at LTVCA.
“Urban forest canopy is very important not only for the mental health of citizens to be able to go out and walk under trees and in nature, but it also has urban cooling effects to withstand some of those hot, hot summer days,” Van Every said.
The ‘Greening Project’, valued at $5,000, also helps keep the youth involved with their environment, Van Every added.
The project saw roughly 80 trees go up in the green space, along with 50 trees along the sidewalk.
“There may be more potential for doing more trees in that park later, but the first initiative was just to get a nice perimeter of trees for that green space for that new community,” Van Every explained.
The trees planted are around five to six years old, and although it will take upwards of a decade for them to fully mature, Van Every says it’s rare to have one die.
“The odd time there will be some loss, and the big thing about getting the community involved is that they have some sort of ownership to it so that young people or anyone, for that matter, won’t just inadvertently snap the trees or vandalize them,” said Van Every.
The conservation authority has been helping with these spring and fall events since roughly 2006.
They have one more tree planting initiative planned in Chatham-Kent for this fall season.
LTVCA has partnered with the Ridgetown Horticulture Society and Ridgetown Rotary to plant 130 native Carolinian trees at 53 Marsh Street.
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