Chilliwack – This year, Chilliwack celebrated National Forest Week by planting 22,000 climate-resilient trees on the west slopes of Mt. Thom. The City partnered with Shakti Reforestation Ltd. for Phase 2 of the Growing Climate Resilient Forests for Chilliwack project.
Many volunteers from the community helped make this project possible, including volunteers from the Rotary Club of Chilliwack, PickEco Refills, Grade 11 students from Unity Christian School, three crews from Pacific Pathways, and supportive hikers passing by that wanted to lend a helping hand hauling boxes of seedlings up to planting sites.
“The theme of National Forest Week this year was ‘Our forests – continually giving’, and this project was a great fit, as future generations will be able to experience a healthy, natural forest setting in the park while we adapt to a changing climate,” said Mayor Popove. “The species of trees that were planted in the park this year were chosen based on their expected ability to grow in our future climate.”
Some of the tree species planted in Phase 2 include White Spruce, Lodgepole Pine, and Garry Oak. As part of the Planting Climate Resilient Forests for Chilliwack project, 2,000 trees were planted on Mt. Thom in April 2021, in Phase 1. The overall project will provide a continual forest canopy on Mt. Thom as current birch trees decline, ensuring the species that call Mt. Thom home will have appropriate habitat in the future. To learn more about this project, visit chilliwack.com/urbanforests.
