ELORA – Residents can participate in a tree planting event along the Trestle Bridge Trail this Earth Day.
A multi-year native habitat rehabilitation project headed by local non-profit Neighbourwoods, the event is intended to highlight the importance of preserving biodiversity along the Trestle Bridge Trail.
According to project coordinator Richard Smythe, the group intends to plant 75 native trees and shrubs this year on April 20 using plants from the county's Green Legacy Program to replace invasive buckthorn they removed last fall.
While Smythe said the group could plant more, they chose a lower number to ensure volunteers could care for them.
The project is being funded through a Centre Wellington Community Improvement Grant of $2,400.
"We want it to be a community program because ever since COVID-19, I think many of us have realized how important these spaces are for getting out," said Smythe. "The trail might be by a corridor, but you still feel like you're in nature and it's really important we all chip in to help steward (areas like these)."
Neighbourwoods volunteers also planted 65 potted trees and shrubs along the trail last May during a township tree-planting event.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
