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Canada, Manitoba governments collab to plant 1M trees annually

Planting two billion trees benefits all Canadians. Diverse forests have many benefits: they capture the carbon in growing trees to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help in the fight against climate change; they enhance forest resilience to climate change by planting the right tree species in the right places and restoring wildlife habitat; and they support human well-being by creating more green spaces for recreational activities and spaces for connecting with nature, better regulation of temperature in cities and reduced risk of wildland fire and floods.

Terry Duguid, Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, on behalf of Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson; Manitoba’s Minister of Natural Resources and Northern Development Greg Nesbitt; and Manitoba’s Minister of Environment and Climate Kevin Klein, has announced Manitoba’s multi-year tree-planting agreement, which benefits from a federal contribution of $8.85 million under the 2 Billion Trees (2BT) program. Additionally, the Government of Manitoba is contributing $8.85 million to this initiative.

“Manitobans are proud of our provincial forests and our urban canopies. Our trees capture and store carbon pollution while providing us with an abundance of clean air and habitat space for wildlife. This investment to plant one million trees annually in Manitoba will fight climate change while strengthening our province’s precious green spaces for generations to come,” said Duguid.

Wilkinson added, “Trees are essential to our lives — they capture carbon, improve air quality and support wildlife — and they are important allies in our fight against climate change. That’s why Canada has committed to planting two billion trees. Through this investment to plant over 1 million trees annually across Manitoba, we are showing how collaborative work between the federal government and our provincial partners can ensure that the right tree is planted at the right place at the right time.”

Under this nine-year agreement, Manitoba will plant up to 1 million additional trees annually. Seedlings will be planted on forest lands that have been affected by wildfires and other natural disturbance events, and large saplings will be planted annually in rural, urban and Indigenous communities. These trees will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Manitoba by an estimated 52,473 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2050, the equivalent to taking 16,076 vehicles off the road.

The Indigenous projects are intended to facilitate Indigenous participation on reforestation initiatives through capacity building, planning and site selection, seed collecting, preparation and monitoring. Earlier this spring, the 2BT program supported a planting project in Norway House Cree Nation, providing employment and skills training for 19 community members to establish new forest. Manitoba provided 50,000 conifer seedlings, funding to pay the planters and in-kind training for the project.

In 2023, Manitoba will focus on identifying more planting sites and partners as well as prepare areas for planting. In 2024, large-scale planting will begin. Since 2018, Manitoba has planted 8.6 million trees, an average of 1.7 million per year.

The Government of Canada’s 2 Billion Trees program is helping to clean the air, keep neighbourhoods cool in the summer, create jobs and fight climate change while protecting nature. By working together with provinces, territories, local communities and Indigenous Peoples, Canada continues to build a strong, healthy future for generations to come.