Imagine planting enough trees to circle the globe 27 times! That is exactly what farmers in western Canada have done by planting 600 million trees during the past hundred years. In a time when countries are deforesting their lands, Canada, a land with a prosperous lumbering industry, recognizes the importance of trees to industry, agriculture, and the environment and continues to plant trees for future generations.
These trees were supplied through the Prairie Shelterbelt Program, one of the longest running Government of Canada programs. Since 1901 the Shelterbelt Center (now part of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration— AAFC-PFRAE), has been developing and distributing genetically superior trees and shrubs to farmers for planting on agricultural land in western Canada. For over 100 years, the program has provided over 600 million trees to farmers on the prairies. That’s enough seedlings to sequester over 218 megatons of CO2.[1]
The farmers in western Canada who planted these trees were undoubtedly thinking of the benefits to their farming operations and their families such as soil and farmstead protection. As important as trees were to prairie settlers when the first trees were distributed, the 600 millionth tree is of equal or greater importance due to the increased demands on the landscape resulting from climate change, water management, and increased production requirements.
Today the trees are being bred to adapt to climate change, to accommodate a growing interest in biodiversity and the environment, to help meet industry demand for bioproducts and biofuels, and to help fulfill an increased demand in tree-related products such as nutraceuticals, wood materials, and fiber. The Center has been performing tree improvement breeding for over 60 years and is the longest running tree research program in North America.
These days the program typically provides close to 4 million trees each year to approximately 7,000 farmers. For four weeks each spring, the Center in Indian Head, Saskatchewan, becomes a flurry of activity and ships 28 different deciduous and coniferous species to 38 distribution points in Saskatchewan, 40 points in Manitoba, 68 points in Alberta, and 2 points in British Columbia. Some tree species distributed to farmers through the program include Scots pine, Colorado spruce, white spruce, caragana, willow, hybrid poplar, green ash, bur oak, villosa lilac, choke cherry, silver buffaloberry, and sea buckthorn.
Today we think of the environmental benefits of planting these trees—carbon sequestration, protection of water quality, and enhanced biodiversity are terms that come to mind. We can also measure the importance these trees provide to the farming operations and to the environment. For example, a five-row shelterbelt around a farmyard will reduce the energy needed to heat the home and livestock facilities by up to 25 percent.
In 2008, over 4 million seedlings were distributed. In the future, these trees and the planting of fieldbelts will:
· Sequester 1,500,000 tons (1.5 megatons) of CO2 by 2058.
· Protect the equivalent of 1,136 farmyards.
· Protect nearly 60,000 acres of cropland.
· Provide at least $2 million worth of crop benefits at net present value.
· Protect over 655 acres of wildlife lands.
· Prevent soil erosion and conserve 4.35 million tons of topsoil. The savings are valued at over $21 million. The amount of topsoil protected would be the equivalent of the weight of two million adult elephants!
· Protect and enhance nearly 200 miles of riparian areas through the planting of tree buffers along the banks of waterways.
Now imagine the outcome if these trees and the ones before them had not been planted! Kudos to the farmers of western Canada and their ancestors for having the foresight and commitment to protect our environment and keep our family farms sustainable!
Note: The 600 millionth tree was planted during Environment Week, June 6, 2008, at Indian Head Saskatchewan, Canada.
For more information on the AAFC-PFRA Prairie Shelterbelt Program, please visit www.agr.gc.ca/shelterbelt.
Reference:
1. Information derived from Environment Canada’s 2006 Greenhouse Gas Inventory–A Summary of Trends
