On October 18th, 2024 ACER came together with organisers, municipal officials, volunteers and local students for an activity-packed celebration marking the successful completion of ACER’s 2023 GLLAF Ganaraska Tree Planting and Caring For Trees Initiative. During this year-long initiative, completed in partnership with the Ganaraska Conservation Authority, Sustainable Cobourg, the Town of Cobourg and the Municipality of Port Hope, more than 1100 trees were planted with the help of over 300 volunteers and students across six different sites in the Ganaraska Watershed. The sites were carefully chosen by local municipal and GRCA staff to help reduce erosion and prevent flooding along the Ganaraska River and its feeder streams. Held at the Chris Garrett Park retention pond in Cobourg, the final tree-planting site, the celebration included the unveiling of a commemorative sign, opening comments by Lucas Cleveland, Mayor of Cobourg, and the demonstration of the use of three levels of technology from grassroots/hands-on tree monitoring and assessment to a mini-drone flight over the tree-planting site with video streamed real-time to attendee’s smartphones. ACER also awarded its first-ever “Oxygen” awards to project partners and key contributors. A special thank you to Jonathan Brown, GIS Coordinator for Sustainable Cobourg and long-time ACER collaborator, who not only served as the local liaison throughout the initiative but also kindly took on the task of organising the celebration.
“The need for trees around lakefront communities like the Town of Cobourg and Port Hope is actually one of the fundamental principles or the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative…a big congratulations to ACER in securing the funding to plant over 1000 trees in our communities. It’s not just about planting trees or celebrating together, it’s about nurturing the next generation of innovators and stewards of the planet.” – Lucas Cleveland, Mayor, Town of Cobourg.
As with all ACER tree planting initiatives, 10% of the trees were measured on planting day. Local engagement continues with students returning to the six planting sites to measure, monitor and report on the overall success of the tree plantings and the health and growth of the trees being monitored. The data collected will be added to ACER’s Riparian Ranger program tree data repository. When combined with data from future years, it will help develop and improve strategies to protect and enhance our riparian zones. ”Job #1 is to ensure the right tree is healthy and thriving in its new home!” – Miriam Mutton, local landscape architect in attendance
And…another local tradition has been sparked: one grandmother in attendance proudly told the story of her two grandchildren who had helped plant trees at another site, the Port Hope Waterfront Trail, and who insisted on returning to see how the trees they had planted were doing!
ACER thanks the Great Lakes Local Action Fund for funding this latest ACER Riparian Rangers initiative and hopes to be able to kick off similar community-centred initiatives in the future! “It takes a community to raise a tree!” – Alice Casselman, ACER Founder and President.
