The Rotary Club of Cobourg along with members of the 598 Sabre Squadron Air Cadets planted over 90 trees on Saturday, September 28, 2024.
Rotary Clubs from Port Hope, Cobourg, Northumberland Sunrise, Colborne, Brighton and Campbellford are spearheading this initiative to plant 500 trees across Northumberland County to help to combat climate change
Rotary Club of Port Hope will be planting 90 trees; Cobourg 95 trees; Northumberland Sunrise 85 trees; Colborne 60 trees; Brighton 85 trees and Campbellford 85 trees.
Beyond financial contributions, teams of volunteers from each club will be actively engaged in the tree planting process.
In Northumberland County, Rotary has received major support from Trees for Life, a Canadian charity dedicated to helping communities across Canada with tree planting initiatives.
Trees for Life Executive Director Mike Hurley said the trees planted in Cobourg were approximately two-metres tall at Westwood Park on Saturday morning.
“They are larger than seedlings, but don’t have to compete with other ground weeds and ground cover, but still small enough that they are manageable and cost effective to help with reforestation efforts like this.”
Hurley said with the battle of climate change, “it’s going to take a myriad complex solutions, but one of the simplest and easiest things to do is plant trees.”
Trees for Life was launched in 2015 when the Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign was initiated.
The goal was to reforest the Highway of Heroes corridor by planting nearly 2.5 million trees.
Cobourg Rotarian Martyn Homer said there were approximately 20 Rotarians and 20 Cadets who came out.
“It was important for the environment and we’re going to take steps to improve the environment and help with climate change.”
“Planting trees is a great start of doing that.”
Part of the Rotary mandate is “service above self” and as Homer said members do many volunteers activities in the community but also worldwide.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
