Our organization did some more tree planting work in Blomidon Provincial Park this past September (2021). This work was funded by the Trees For Life organization. You can learn more about them from their website at: www.treesforlife.ca
This project was initiated in 2020 to repair some of the extensive damage done by Hurricane Dorian in 2019. Dorian hit central Nova Scotia on September 7th, 2019. Eighty percent of the residents of the province lost power, and in the aftermath, Dorian turned out to be tied for being the strongest hurricane in recorded history to have ever hit Atlantic Canada. The destruction was widespread.
Damage within Blomidon Park was extensive. The park staff did an excellent job of cleaning up the mess, but the open spaces that resulted invited some further restoration work. We discussed our desire to assist with this work, and the park staff were very happy to accommodate.
The park foresters estimated that approximately five acres (two hectares) of the core camping area within the park had been hit the hardest. In addition, there was another five acre section in front of the camping area that had been cleaned out several years earlier (due to an insect problem) and that area could also use more trees. Beyond that, there were some other isolated areas that would also benefit from reforestation work. We decided that this project would be approached in multiple phases. We would start by planting several thousand seedlings in the fall of 2020, and follow that up with a second larger phase in the fall of 2021.
The first phase of the project was completed successfully in the fall of 2020, thanks to public
donations. However, the project really began to have a major impact in
2021 thanks to the support from the Trees For Life organization. The support that we
received from them this year funded the planting of 8,487 more trees in 2021. Amazing.
During the planning phase in 2020, we were given some maps outlining the approximate area that the foresters recommended we focus upon. For context, here is one of those maps:
This photo shows two areas highlighted in red. The section on the left is the older area that was damaged by insects. Some trees had been planted in that area several years ago, but the coverage was sporadic and there was certainly room for more. The section circled in red on the right side of that photo shows the main camping area, prior to the devastation by the hurricane.
To date, our teams have planted a total of eight species in the park. We've planted five types of conifers so far: Red spruce, white spruce, eastern larch, white pine, and a handful of black spruce. We've also planted three species of deciduous hardwoods: red oak, sugar maple, and yellow birch. Some of these trees were planted in open ground where the previous mature trees had been completely destroyed and removed. Other seedlings were planted in partial understory adjacent to camp sites, which again had suffered some wind damage. These young understory trees will help to ensure the long-term health of the stand surrounding the camp sites. Incidentally, we'll be adding additional hardwood species to the project in the future.
In addition to prioritizing the camping areas, we've also planted part of the area that was damaged by insects several years ago. That area has started to regenerate partially. Some of the trees in that area had been planted, and others are the result of natural regeneration. The trees and brush in this area were quite patchy. In some parts, the trees were looking quite healthy and were taller than we were.
Here's a graphic showing all of the areas that we've worked in to date:
Here are a few photos of the team in action in the park:
The second phase of planting on this project went very smoothly. We're looking forward to returning next fall to wrap up the final phase of the restoration work. The project is getting close to completion now, and the addition of several more hardwood species will finish this project in 2022.
We'd like to thank the staff at the Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry for helping organize this project, and again to the Trees For Life organization for making this work possible.
You can see more photos of our 2021 tree planting work in our public 2021 Planting Photos folder on Dropbox.
If you'd like to learn more about Blomidon Provincial Park, visit their website:
parks.novascotia.ca/park/blomidon
Thanks for reading!
Replant.ca Environmental is a Canadian company that plants trees for carbon capture and builds community forests. We also plant trees in national, provincial, and municipal public parks to mitigate damage from wildfires, storms, insects, and forest diseases. We operate thanks to numerous small contributions from the general public, in addition to larger project sponsorships from businesses and corporations around the world. If you'd like to learn how to show your support, visit our donations page. Even if you aren't able to make a contribution, we very much appreciate when people are able to share our posts or our website link on social media, to help spread the word about the work that we're doing!
To learn more about the various species that we plant, visit the conifers page or the deciduous (hardwoods) page on our website. Thanks so much for your interest!
Incidentally, our organization is often seeking additional land for our carbon capture projects. Please visit this link if you might know of a recently-harvested property that we could rebuild into a permanent legacy forest.
Cumberland County has been extensively clear-cut. Our hardwoods stands have been sprayed and killed. We need good Acadisn forest mix to be planted here.
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