Fort Erie to plant 500 trees along Lake Erie for Earth Day

Earth Day is for the birds, and this year, Fort Erie is doing something about it.

On April 22, Town of Fort Erie staff will plant approximately 500 trees along the Lake Erie waterfront alongside volunteers from the Bert Miller Nature Club and the Environmental Advisory Committee as part of a broader push to restore shoreline habitat and support migratory bird species that cross the lake each season.

The event will run from 9 a.m. to noon.

Fort Erie’s northern Lake Erie shoreline sits along one of the most active migratory corridors in the region, and the town’s waterfront ranks among the more ecologically significant stretches of the Great Lakes basin. The planting will be one of the first visible actions taken under the Town’s climate hhange action plan established last year.

Funding for the waterfront planting came through a grant from the Niagara Community Foundation, secured in partnership with the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority.

A separate $13,000 grant from the same foundation will support a pollinator meadow and naturalization project at a future park at the corner of Thunder Bay Road and Butlers Drive, with that work expected later in fall 2025.

More than 17 tree and shrub species have been selected for the April planting, including Eastern White Cedar, Red Maple, Shagbark Hickory, Winterberry, Eastern Redbud, Basswood, Balsam Fir and Alternate-leaf Dogwood, among others.

Several belong to the Carolinian forest zone, a temperate forest system that extends into southern Ontario and supports high levels of plant and animal diversity.

The Town plans to track all planted trees by species and location and monitor their condition over time, but no formal monitoring protocol has been put in place, and the Town is not currently calculating carbon sequestration from any of its planting work.

Jessica Abrahamse, senior environmental planner with the Town’s planning and development services, told Fort Erie Radio that species selection was driven by the specific demands of the site.

“Consideration was given to trees that can withstand shoreline conditions, and that contribute to foraging for birds and create habitat for local species,” said Abrahamse.

The waterfront location was chosen in part because of its position along a flight path for migratory birds crossing Lake Erie, one of the narrowest of the Great Lakes and a well-documented bottleneck for species moving north each spring.

The Town is also looking at additional grant opportunities later in the year and reviewing municipally owned properties as potential candidates for further restoration work, according to Abrahamse.

Before the planting, residents can weigh in on the climate change action plan at a public open house on Wednesday, April 15, from 5 to 7 p.m. at town hall.

“It will be an opportunity for people to bring their ideas forward as this is a living document,” said Abrahamse.

Volunteer registration details and parking availability at the April 22 site had not been confirmed at time of publication. Residents can contact planning and development services for information.

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