Trees will be a growing topic of discussion for a Chatham-Kent politician at the next council meeting.
South Kent councillor Anthony Ceccacci is set to bring forward a motion asking that staff prepare a report that encourages the planting of one million trees over the next four years across the municipality.
According to Ceccacci's motion, Chatham-Kent has less than three per cent natural coverage including trees, wetlands, grasslands and pollinator habitats, making it the lowest percentage for an upper-tier, single-tier municipality in Ontario.
He's asking that the report that comes back will identify municipal-owned land that can be used to support the initiative, identity similar initiatives used in other cities, look at incentives that can be offered to private landowners to plant and maintain trees and identify any potential community groups to partner with.
Ceccacci said there are already several programs in place to encourage people to plant trees, including Alternative Land Use Services and a program offered by the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority. However, he believes many residents aren't aware that these programs are offered and hopes the municipality is able to find ways to promote them in order to help reach the one million tree goal.
"There are so many good programs that the Lower Thames already has and the municipality works through. This motion is that it's good to revisit them and restimulate them, bring them to life a little bit, to tell people that what we have, and see what's available," Ceccaci explained. "There's a lot of people that are unaware that these programs already exist. So what this is also doing is I want to shine a light on those programs and [see] how can we collaborate better to make people aware. This motion isn't just to go out and plant a million trees. It's also to revisit all those programs that are out there and how do we get more people active and engaged in it."
Ceccacci said he struggled with coming up with an actual numeric goal to reach. He said ultimately he wanted to aim high to give the initiative room for success.
"If we establish a goal that's easy and maintainable, as soon as we hit that goal, it's great that we met it but it could fizzle out a little. What I'm hoping to do is establish a lofty goal," he explained. "There are so many people that have reached out and said 'I'll plant five or six trees. It is a very high goal but if people rally behind it and get behind it and everybody helps a little tiny bit, I think it's very achievable."
If the incentive makes it to the next steps, Ceccacci hopes that the municipality will be able to track the trees that are being planted and develop a system where residents can let municipal officials know if they're doing any planting.
"I'm hoping there's a way we can also put something in place where people can let us know what they're doing on their land. I talked to a farmer recently who planted 2,000 trees on his land this spring. Let this be a good way to promote the good things that people are doing, how can we total that and better work together to show the progress that we're doing," he said.
Ceccacci will be presenting his motion during the October 21 meeting. He is requesting that the report come back to council for the November 18 meeting.
"This isn't a regulation," he said. "This is strictly incentive and initiative. It's an 'if you want help, how can we help you? If you have land, how can we help you facilitate that and if you want to partake in it? How can we get you to the programs that are available?'"