The federal government has launched the Growing Canada’s Forests Programs, the next step in the government’s plan to plant two billion trees.

As part of the program, the government has launched two initiatives to discover organizations that have immediate access to land or trees, and those interested in collaborating on tree planting initiatives.

The first initiative, the Future Participants Request for Information, asks organizations to fill in response forms sharing their vision and ability to contribute to single- or multi-year tree planting projects. According to a government press release, this will help facilitate collaboration with partners on future tree planting projects. The deadline for this initiative is May 27, 2021.

The second initiative is the Early Starts Projects Expression of Interest, which aims to identify new, shovel-ready tree planting projects for the 2021 growing season. Organizations who want to participate must submit their Expression of Interest by March 25, proving that they have access to trees and land, along with proven capacity and experience delivering large, cost-shared tree planting projects that would result in at least 5,000 new trees planted this year. Organizations must also have experience monitoring tree survival and reporting on the results of the project starting this spring.

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