Over a billion trees planted across B.C in last four years

Over the course of the past four years, over 1.1 billion trees have been planted in British Columbia, including 301 million in 2021.

The tree planting efforts are part of a science-based reforestation program launched in 2018.

“This milestone would not have been possible without the hard work of thousands of silviculture workers who prepare and plant millions of diverse saplings, ensuring our forests are resilient for generations to come,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.

Work has already begun to prepare for reforestation efforts next year. Nurseries across B.C. have employed over 1,300 workers who are preparing millions of seedlings for cold storage. Those trees will be shipped to planting sites across the province in the spring, where roughly 5,000 silviculture workers will plant the saplings.

It’s expected that roughly 247 million trees will be put in the ground in just the interior next year. Another 18 million will be planted in forests along B.C.’s coast.

The saplings consist of a mix of native tree species including lodgepole pine, interior spruce, western red cedar, douglas fir and larch. The province stated that this mix helps ensure future forests are climate adaptable, resilient and diverse.

“Replanting harvested areas and those areas ravaged by wildfire and pests is essential to our fight against climate change and rebuilding forest health. The millions of trees planted this year will increase the carbon-capture capacity of our forests and reduce emissions in our province over the long term,” said George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy.

“These trees will also reduce the risks of landslides and floods while supporting the essential biodiversity and wildlife habitat all British Columbians value.”

The province noted that trees are valuable for carbon sequestration and mitigate the impacts of climate change. Once fully grown, a million trees planted can have the greenhouse gas benefit of removing 42,000 cars from the road for a year.