The Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority is getting a funding boost towards some of its environmental work thanks to a recent donation.
Engie and Ontario West Wind recently presented the conservation authority with a cheque for $10,000.
According to Environmental Project Coordinator Greg Van Every, The Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority (LTVCA) has been a partner with Engie for several years now, which has helped the organization with several environmental projects in partnership with local landowners including wetland restoration and tallgrass prairie buffers.
"We got together with them, had a couple of meetings and talked about what we could do," Van Every explained. "They offered to donate funds, and over the last two and half years now, we've been working on implementing all kinds of projects in the South Kent area, pooling their funds with other funds but mainly getting the projects off the ground."
The contributions have also helped with the planting of thousands of trees.
Over the past several years, the LTVCA has worked towards the push to plant more trees in the municipality. However, according to Van Every, it's not done without some challenges.
"Trees take two or three years to grow into a seedling...so it's one thing to say 'let's plant a lot of trees' but it's another process to supply those trees," he said. "We're working together with our nurseries and different organizations like Engie to enhance that capacity."
Further challenges have also been met by the conservation authority this year while trying to meet its target for tree planting.
According to Van Every, the province closing the Ontario Tree Seed Plant in 2018 and funding for the Forest Ontario’s 50 Million Trees Program being temporarily cut the following year has resulted in the team trying to make up for what was lost.
"The nurseries backed off for a couple of years because they weren't sure how they were ever going to sell these trees. That's why we're now were trying to play a little bit of catch up," he said. "Now there are all kinds of people saying 'let's plant lots of trees' but yet now the stock is already two years behind. So it's a bit tricky."
The deadline to place seedling orders for the LTVCA's Tree Planting Program was March 1. However, Van Every said it's never too early to start thinking of planting some trees in 2022.
"Even if people do miss our deadlines, we always try to get them to sign up for the following year," he said.
