(Ottawa) The federal government says it intends to plant 320 million trees per year in order to reach the target set by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who had promised to put two billion trees in the ground by now 2030.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Thursday he has issued a tender, which includes indigenous communities and municipalities, to plant millions more trees each year.
The funds available provide in particular aid for “massive planting” for the planting of a minimum of 500,000 trees as well as a component of “urban and peri-urban planting” for the planting of a minimum of 10,000. trees.
During the 2019 election campaign, Justin Trudeau promised that if he formed government, he would plant two billion more trees than expected in ten years.
However, according to documents obtained by The Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act, only 8.5 million trees had been planted as of mid-November. This is less than 0.5% of the promised target.
Natural Resources Canada blames this slow start on the lack of seedlings, which can take two to three years to grow before being transplanted into the field. The new schedule unveiled Thursday provides for the planting of 60 million trees next year, then a jump to 100 million trees in 2024, 200 million in 2025 and 320 million in 2027, 2028 and 2029. The cost of the operation is expected to amount to $ 355 million per year.
“Planting trees is an important part of our strategy to fight climate change, protect biodiversity and create good jobs,” said Minister Wilkinson.
But opposition parties criticize the program’s delays and accuse the Liberal government of failing to deliver on its promise it repeated in the most recent election campaign.
Conservative Environment spokesperson Dan Albas said that with the billions of dollars committed to fulfill this pledge, it is very disturbing to learn that less than 1% of the task has been completed in the last few years. last two years.
“Justin Trudeau’s Liberals like to make ambitious promises, but when the time comes to get the job done, they fail at the job,” he said.
These two billion trees would represent a 40% increase in the usual rate of tree planting in the country. Ottawa says the move could create up to 4,300 jobs.
On the side of the NDP, the critic for natural resources, Charlie Angus, recalled that this liberal promise was one of the most theatrical, but he resigned himself to note that at the rate at which its realization progresses, “it does not there will be more of the planet to save ”.