Ontario Power Generation

Tree Planting

The Carbon Cycle

Tree Planting

Since the spring of 2000 OPG has planted approximately 3.9 million native trees on more than 1,900 hectares of ecologically significant lands in southern Ontario (south and east of the Canadian shield). This initiative is a major contribution to OPG's Biodiversity Management Program and Greenhouse Gas Management Strategy.

The afforestation of ecologically strategic locations will provide habitat for threatened species that are especially at risk because of the loss and fragmentation of forest habitat in southern Ontario. Plantings are targeted to expand key forested areas and connect woodland patches in an effort to reconnect the fragmented landscape. Buffer plantings along riparian habitats have the added bonus of stabilizing soils and improving water quality and other “ecosystem services”. In 2009, OPG planted close to 598,000 trees through its various partners, bringing our total plantings to approximately 3.9 million trees. This cumulative effort will also address both climate change mitigation and adaptation imperatives by sequestering carbon and enhancing the resiliency of our woodland ecosystems to cope with the effects of climate change.

Click here to review the selection criteria for OPG's reforestation program.

The Value of our Woodlands
Woodlands in Southern Ontario play a critical role in making our environment livable. They are the dominant historic ecosystem of the region and harbour much of the region's biological diversity, ranging in scale from genetic material to species and communities. This diversity across a landscape ensures the maintenance of ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling and succession which are essential to the survival of all organisms. Woodlands are also sites for education, recreation, tourism, biological research and aesthetic pleasure. Sustainably managed woodlands also provide a range of valuable wood products and can be a source of income for many private landowners.