B.C. Celebrates a Milestone in its Reforestation Effort, Planting its One Billionth Tree Since 2018

On Wednesday (11-10-21), the Province of British Columbia celebrated a milestone in its reforestation efforts. This year, the province recognized planting its one billionth tree since 2018. In speaking about the milestone Roly Russell, Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Development said, “1.1 billion is a pretty hard number to wrap your head around. It’s a lot of shovels in the ground.”

According to Russell, there were over 300 million trees planted in 2021 throughout the province by around 5,000 silviculture workers. Russell says the target for 2022 is to plant around 260 to 270 million trees. The trees will help replace those that were harvested or burned by wildfire.

“We want to make sure we reforest those blocks that have been harvested, and in most cases, it’s the same with the wildfires,” Russell added. “We want to make sure that those aren’t long-lasting impacts on the ecosystems and the future of the employment and sustainable, good jobs in our communities.”