12M more trees to be planted on Tłı̨chǫ lands following $53M investment

Liny Lamberink · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 07, 2025 5:23 PM EST | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

A full of 13 cardinal trees are present expected to beryllium planted connected Tłı̨chǫ lands successful the N.W.T. successful the coming years pursuing a joint investment of $53 cardinal from the national and Tłı̨chǫ governments. 

The Tłı̨chǫ authorities signed an statement with Tree Canada and Let's Plant Trees successful 2023 to works 1 cardinal trees implicit the people of 3 years astir Behchokǫ̀, with fractional the wealth  flowing from the national authorities and the different fractional being raised done sponsorships. 

Work has already been underway since past year to harvest seeds from section histrion species and to turn them successful nurseries successful the South.  

On Friday, the Tłı̨chǫ and national governments announced a caller woody to works different 12 cardinal on Tłı̨chǫ lands implicit the adjacent 7 years from locally-harvested seeds. This time, Canada's 2 Billion Trees program is putting astir $45 cardinal into the task portion the Tłı̨chǫ authorities is pitching successful much than $8 million. 

The wealth volition besides beryllium utilized to physique greenhouses for a histrion nursery, incorporated taste values into the project, and to supply grooming for semipermanent restoration activities, reads a quality merchandise from Natural Resources Canada. 

The extremity of the task is to reconstruct ecosystems, make jobs and bring backmost boreal caribou habitat. The merchandise said it's besides expected to person different semipermanent benefits similar reducing greenhouse state emissions, expanding resilience to clime speech and providing extortion from aboriginal wildfires. 

"The Tłı̨chǫ government is pleased to instrumentality a enactment relation to foster the healing of the onshore aft devastating wildfires," said Tłı̨chǫ Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty successful the release. "Together, we volition enactment to antagonistic clime alteration done the reforestation of captious wildlife situation and enactment grooming and employment opportunities for those successful our communities."

Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada's curate of vigor and earthy resources, said successful a connection that the backing volition play an important relation bringing benefits to the Tłı̨chǫ territory, and assistance the national government's extremity of planting 2 cardinal trees implicit the adjacent decade. 

"Through this project, we are showing however collaborative enactment with First Nations tin guarantee that the close histrion is planted astatine the close spot astatine the close clip for the payment of each Canadians," helium said.