Tue, 30 Sep 2014
The Town of Oakville celebrated National Forest Week last week with two community events to strengthen our tree canopy and celebrate the great benefits that trees provide.
“I want to thank everyone involved in giving back to our community. Planting trees is just one of the ways we are conserving and enhancing our tree canopy for the benefit of Oakville residents now and for future generations,” said Mayor Rob Burton.
On Wednesday, September 24, 2014, the town recognized National Tree Day by demonstrating two approaches to elm canopy conservation.
Mayor Burton, along with John McNeil, manager of Forestry Services at the town, and France Fournier, marketing and community relations at Whole Foods Market Oakville, planted an Accolade elm, a hybrid tree which is resilient to Dutch Elm Disease (DED). The town also treated an existing elm tree with a fungicide to provide multi-year protection against DED.
The American elm tree had almost been eliminated in Oakville. Through continued plantings of Accolade, Triumph and Liberty elms the town now has over 3,000 healthy elm trees. All three varieties of elm trees are resilient to the disease. DED is an aggressive fungus that destroys thousands of elm trees each year.
Funding for the National Tree Day planting was provided by Whole Foods Market Oakville.
Then, this past Saturday, September 27, 2014, the town hosted TD Tree Days at Oakville Park where 75 community volunteers helped to plant 500 native trees to aid the reforestation of the woodland which had lost its ash trees due to Emerald Ash Borer (EAB).
This planting was one of over 140 taking place across Canada as part of TD Tree Days, TD’s flagship volunteer program. TD Tree Days provides TD employees, their families and friends, and members of the community the opportunity to volunteer in the communities where they live and work, and to demonstrate their commitment to forest stewardship.
Trees planted were paid for by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (TD FEF), a national charity that funds environmental projects across Canada.