As National Forest Week continues, the Honourable Derrick Bragg, Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture, visited the Centre for Agriculture and Forestry Research at Wooddale today to plant the 300-millionth tree seedling grown at the centre.
This number of seedlings would cover 150,000 hectares – or 1,500 square kilometres – of planted forest. To put it into perspective, 300 million seedlings planted two metres apart would cover the length of the Trans-Canada Highway between Port aux Basques and St. John’s 664 times – enough for every resident of Newfoundland and Labrador to plant 570 trees.
Staff at the Centre for Agriculture and Forestry Research produce about eight million tree seedlings annually for reforestation. Of this number, 100,000 seedlings are donated to community-based organizations for tree-planting activities. Over the past year and a half, staff at the Wooddale centre have worked diligently to ensure tree seedling production continued, while meeting the challenge of safely adhering to COVID-19 protocols. Along with tree seedlings, staff also grew more than four million vegetable transplants to help commercial famers diversify their crops and give them a head start on the growing season.
Work has been ongoing at Wooddale since the 1980s to improve the quality of orchard-grown black and white spruce seed, by carefully breeding rigorously selected, superior trees. When planted, seeds grow into strong trees with favorable genetic combinations that perform consistently better in Newfoundland and Labrador’s growing conditions than wild seed, ultimately producing more timber on a shorter rotation. This increases the value in the province’s planted forests, and results in healthier, more diverse forests.
Today’s milestone reinforces the Provincial Government’s commitment to sustainable forest management, ensuring strong, healthy forests now and in the future.
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“The staff at the Centre for Agriculture and Forestry Research in Wooddale are nothing short of amazing. Along with producing more than four million vegetable transplants, they ensured tree seedling production continued without interruption throughout the pandemic. Thanks also to our silviculture crew on the Great Northern Peninsula and all the professional planters who have worked so hard over the years to get these trees into the ground. The Provincial Government is committed to ensuring a strong, healthy forest sector, but that would not be possible without the effort and expertise of our dedicated staff and tree planters. Congratulations on this milestone, and I look forward to millions’ more seedlings growing into strong forests.”
Honourable Derrick Bragg
Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture
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Linda Skinner
Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture
709-637-2284. 632-8167
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