Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson
Minister of Natural Resources
Why was it important to create the 2 Billion Trees program?
The 2 Billion Trees (2BT) program focuses on permanently growing Canada’s forest cover by an area twice the size of Prince Edward Island. The program will generate many long-term benefits such as restoring nature, enhancing biodiversity, creating forest ecosystems on fire-damaged land, increasing carbon capture, creating parks and greenspaces in and around cities, reducing community risk to natural disasters, creating green jobs, cleaning the air we breathe and the water we drink, and enhancing the well-being of Canadians for generations to come.
How does the 2 Billion Trees program reflect Indigenous values?
In aiming to respect nature and maximize the potential increase in biodiversity, the program is committed to planting the right trees in the right place and monitoring them to ensure their survival. To achieve this momentous task, the 2BT program is investing up to $3.2 billion by 2031 in tree planting efforts across sectors and levels of government. The Indigenous Collaboration Working Group ensures effective approaches to working with Indigenous Peoples and reflects the government’s commitment to reconciliation. Natural Resources Canada’s (@NRCan) Natural Smart Climate Solutions Fund also works with Indigenous partners to streamline application and reporting processes, remove barriers to access funding, and co-develop an inclusive governance model for the Indigenous funding stream.
In its first planting season, the 2BT program partners planted approximately 29 million trees from over 150 species at over 500 sites across Canada. Nearly one in every five projects was Indigenous-led.
Where can we learn more about what Canada is doing to overcome climate change and sustainability efforts?
The official government of Canada website is a great place to keep track of our fight against climate change. Minister Wilkinson and NRCan can also be followed on Twitter, who regularly post about the work our government is doing.
