WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd August, 2023) Canada will allocate C$60 million ($45 million) to plant over 35 million trees in forests and reserves affected by the ongoing wildfires, the Ministry of Natural Resources said on Wednesday.
The Federal and municipal funds are part of the country's 2 billion Trees program, which is aimed at planting said amount of trees by 2031.
"Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced over $60 million in federal funding to support four projects that will plant over 35 million trees to restore wildfire-impacted forests and rehabilitate reserve lands that have been damaged by wildfires," the ministry said in a statement.
The projects, which will be implemented in the provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, and Alberta, are also going to help in the ongoing restoration and preservation efforts of Canadian boreal forest lands.
As of August 1, there were 1,030 active wildfires in Canada, with 647 of them being out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. The fires have consumed over 13.1 million hectares of land.
British Columbia, Northwestern Territories, Alberta and Yukon are among the worst affected regions.
