Photo provided by Long Point Basin Land Trust / photos by Land Trust staff | Elliot Beer - summer marketing and fundraising staff for Long Point Basin Land Trust, embraces an old growth Eastern Hemlock at Alton Family Nature Reserve in Norfolk County.
Today is National Tree Day, and the Long Point Basin Land Trust is celebrating by shining a spotlight on some of Norfolk County’s most impressive trees, and the growing threat they face.
National Tree Day falls during National Forest Week, which runs September 20 to 26.
To mark the occasion, the Land Trust is launching its Save the Eastern Hemlocks campaign, aimed at protecting some of the largest recorded Eastern Hemlocks in Canada.
Executive Director Wendy Cridland says the trees are an important part of Norfolk’s natural landscape.
Hemlocks are commonly found in Norfolk’s deep ravines and moist areas. Their evergreen canopy provides shade, keeps creeks cool and creates important habitat for wildlife.
However, the trees are now threatened by Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, a small invasive insect that has reached Norfolk County and can eventually kill mature trees.
The Land Trust is hoping to raise $8,000 to treat priority trees on its nature reserves. A treatment can protect an individual tree for up to seven years.
Cridland says losing the hemlocks would have a much wider impact.
For Norfolk residents, protecting Eastern Hemlocks means protecting the ravines, creeks, wildlife and forests that help make the county unique.
To learn more about the Save the Eastern Hemlocks campaign, visit: https://longpointlandtrust.ca/saving-the-eastern-hemlocks
To donate directly to the campaign, visit: https://gofund.me/060ff3215
Written by Jeremy Hall
