A major donation from the Ridge Landfill Community Trust is helping to grow Chatham-Kent’s tree cover.
The group is donating one million dollars to be used by the LTVCA and its partners over the next 10 years to increase forest cover, wetland and grassland habitat creation, primarily in South Kent.
Linda McKinlay with the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority says it’s going to have a huge impact on the McGregor and Jeannette’s Creeks as well as Rondeau Bay, the three watersheds in South Kent.
“Our board of directors and staff are very excited about this gracious donations,” McKinlay says. “We have a proven track record for finding matching dollars to turn this million dollars into something greater.”
The funding is a major boost to an initiative launched by Ward 2 Councillor Anthony Ceccacci, who has vowed to plant one million trees.
“It’s a really good feeling to see this amazing benefit coming to our community and know we have a partnership over the next 10 years that’s going to bring benefits to our children and our children’s children,” Ceccacci says.
As it stands, Chatham-Kent’s natural tree cover is less than 6%, the lowest of any upper tier municipality in Ontario.
Waste Connections of Canada is also committing about 25 acres of property on and around the existing Ridge Landfill site in South Kent to be rewilded, providing new habitats for local species and contributing to a healthier local ecosystem.
