Before you begin
Defining & Communicating Objectives/Project Benefits
One of the critical first steps for any tree planting or forest restoration project is to consider the objectives of your project. Getting this clarity at the beginning of your work will lead to greater long-lasting impacts. Here are some common desired outcomes of tree planting and restoration projects that may help to inspire you:
Increase biodiversity
Provide shade
Enhance wildlife habitat
Support timber production
Leave a lasting legacy
Add non-timber products
Sequester carbon
Improve food security
Improve air quality
Add privacy
Improve hydrology
Enhance aesthetics and beauty
Create windbreaks
Promote physical and mental well-being
Create sound barriers
Prevent flooding and runoff
Foster community gathering and resiliency
Improve soil and prevent erosion
Allow for recreation
Mitigate climate change
Mitigate disasters, e.g. windstorms, flooding, landslides
Generate carbon credits
Improve landscape resilience
Regulate temperature
You’ll find a wide variety of approaches to tree planting across Canada: afforestation, reforestation following natural disturbance, restoration after invasive species damage, reclamation, riparian planting, agroforestry, windbreaks, forest enhancement (understory planting), and reforestation following harvesting. These planting types directly correspond to the disturbance history combined with your goals for the site as listed above.
Assessing Your Capacity for Scale of Project
Developing and delivering tree planting and forest restoration projects requires significant knowledge and capacity since there is a diversity of tasks required to make the project successful. The following are a set of skills and roles that are needed to have the greatest likelihood of success and you may need to hire or train existing staff, contract out services, or build up your own skillset:
Working knowledge of trees and forest ecology (RPF is an asset)
Problem-solving
Project management
Financial accounting and budgeting
Leadership and team management
Knowledge of basic tools and equipment commonly used
Human resources
Passion and emotional investment for the successful end goals
Occupational health and safety
Partnership and relationship building
Organizational skills
Community engagement
Communication, both verbal and written
Consider your organizational or personal capacity to take on the various parts of the project in-house, while outsourcing other parts of the project to qualified companies or partners. Before you start your planting project, decide who will carry out the on-the-ground work. Doing all the work in-house has some advantages such as remaining the consistent point of contact for all parties involved and seeing the project through all stages (site prep leading directly into the plant and carrying out survival assessments knowing exactly what was done during the planting). The drawback to doing everything in-house is that unless planting trees is the majority of what your business does, the costs incurred for maintaining staff, carrying liability insurance, maintaining and storing equipment, licensing, training, and overhead can end up exceeding the costs to contract the services out to a more dedicated tree planting company. To contract out the services, be sure to assess the company’s experience level, legal documents, (ie. business license) and insurance. If you’re a government entity, it’s likely that you’ll need to go through a competitive bid process to tender the work out to prospective companies.
