The $1 million donation from the Waste Connections Canada Ridge Landfill Community Trust will allow CK and the LTVCA to increase tree cover and create wetlands and grasslands around Rondeau Bay, Lake Erie, Jeannette's Creek, and McGregor Creek. Nov 21, 2019. (Photo by Paul Pedro)The $1 million donation from the Waste Connections Canada Ridge Landfill Community Trust will allow CK and the LTVCA to increase tree cover and create wetlands and grasslands around Rondeau Bay, Lake Erie, Jeannette's Creek, and McGregor Creek. Nov 21, 2019. (Photo by Paul Pedro)
Chatham

Local landfill writes big cheque to improve eco-system

The regional landfill in Blenheim has given the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority a massive donation to plant trees across South-Kent.

The $1 million donation from the Waste Connections Canada Ridge Landfill Community Trust will allow the municipality and the conservation authority to increase tree cover and create wetlands and grasslands around Rondeau Bay, Lake Erie, Jeannette's Creek, and McGregor Creek.

Conservation authority Chief Administrative Officer, Mark Peacock, hopes to turn the $1 million into $3 million over the next decade with the help of matching funds from other partners to create a healthier eco-system.

Peacock said the trees, wetlands, and grasslands will help combat climate change, build much-needed wildlife corridors, and control dangerous soil erosion.

"This certainly is a challenging watershed and these are highly productive soils," said Peacock. "This announcement will only enhance our stewardship programs and assist our agricultural community in achieving their goals while balancing the need for food for our community and for our province."

Peacock said we can't afford to ignore climate change.

"The changing weather is creating challenges. These dollars will provide a way of mitigating climate change. Creating wetlands will provide water holding capacity also to help us adapt to what we are going to see in the future," he added.

Peacock said we don't plant trees for ourselves, we plant them for our children.

"We look forward to working with the Kent Federation of Agriculture, the National Farmers' Union, the Christian Farmers of Ontario, environmental groups, service clubs, anybody that will talk to us, and most importantly the landowners and citizens of South Chatham-Kent in making this happen," Peacock said.

The current tree cover across Chatham-Kent is less than 6 per cent, which is the lowest of any upper-tier municipality in the province.

Waste Connections Canada is also promising to return about 25 acres of its land around the landfill in Blenheim back to the wild for new wildlife habitats.

If you have a project idea in South-Kent, contact the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority to determine if it qualifies for funding.

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