A tree-mendous success: Perth County Stewardship Program sees almost 15,000 trees planted in first year
February 3, 2025
Imagine if you were able to do something to help absorb 329,890 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. Well, Perth County doesn’t have to. They’ve made it a reality.
In its inaugural year, the County’s Stewardship Program, meant to award funding to applicants supporting tree planting projects and stewardship initiatives across Perth County, saw the planting of 14,955 trees. The program provides resources and financial assistance to landowners and community groups completing meaningful stewardship projects. It is broken into three application streams: a Landowner Stream, Community Stream and Woodlot Stream. Each stream is geared towards different tree planting projects such as forest rehabilitation, windbreaks, stream buffers, and forest health check-ups. These projects contribute to the resiliency of natural and agricultural lands across Perth County.
Backed by a community engagement program that worked with over 270 residents and stakeholders and included a community survey before the project launched, demand for the first year of the program was high, bringing in 45 applications. Through the support of the Perth County Stewardship Program, Perth East, Perth South, West Perth and North Perth all completed local community planting programs and tree sales throughout 2024. The program’s success has led to Council approving an increase of $25,000 for 2025, bringing the total allocation to $100,000 for this year’s intake.
“It is fantastic to know that there is a strong demand for stewardship and tree planting projects in Perth County,” says Hannah Cann, the County’s Resiliency and Stewardship Coordinator. “To also see the impressive project value of $277,000 being invested in sustainable farm practice projects such as windbreaks (77 per cent of all the applications submitted), is a shining example of our agricultural community positively impacting their surrounding environments.”
Eligible applicants, including private landowners and community groups, can apply for funding online through the County’s website, which contains all forms, a guide, a stewardship checklist and plenty of other resources.
Says Hannah, “We look forward to continuing to support stewards of natural and agricultural lands in Perth County in 2025.”