NEWS RELEASE
NOTTAWASAGA VALLEY CONSERVATION AUTHORITY
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UTOPIA – The Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority’s community tree planting project got a $13,000 boost from The UPS Foundation early this month.
UPS® Canada’s Mark Howden, marketing director, and Kresimir Zemljic, community relations manager, presented the grant to conservation authority at its office in Utopia, Ontario.
The UPS grant will become part of the larger community tree planting project. It will enable NVCA stewardship staff to create planting plans for multiple sites throughout the watershed, select and purchase site-appropriate trees and shrubs, and coordinate volunteer planting days.
“We depend on charitable donations, like the generous grant from UPS, to support our environmental restoration work. These donations go directly to on-the-ground (or in the water) stewardship projects that restore local habitats, enhance fisheries, and improve water quality,” says Shannon Stephens, NVCA’s Healthy Waters Program coordinator.
“And it’s even better when they’re paired with volunteers, who get to be hands-on with habitat restoration. It’s a great experience, and as those plants grow, they can look back and be proud of what they helped create.”
UPS employees will lend a hand at the volunteer planting days, along with more than 200 local volunteers. Overall, the community tree planting project expects to plant 5,000 native trees and shrubs and restore 5 ha (12.5 ac) of streamside property in 2017.
About a dozen volunteer planting days are being planned for the spring and autumn. Volunteers interested in coming to a planting day can learn more on the conservation authority website at www.nvca.on.ca.
UPS’s global goal is to plant 15 million trees by the end of 2020 as part of The UPS Foundation’s focus on protecting the environment. Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority’s plants nearly a quarter million trees in the watershed annually through both professional and volunteer planting programs.
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