Christmas Trees for Conservation

Recycled Christmas Trees for Conservation: Your Christmas trees are our ‘bread and butter’

Along with many conservation groups, Trout Unlimited Canada (TUC) has a special use for old Christmas trees. Every year TUC Ontario staff collects hundreds of Christmas trees to use in our stream rehabilitation projects. Christmas trees (or conifers) are a very effective, natural tool to use in-stream rehabilitation because of the network of branches and needles on the trees. Once they are secured to a stream bank in a particular placement, they can create something called a sediment mat which can be used for narrowing a stream to help mitigate erosion and channel widening. As excess sediment travels downstream, it will get caught within the trees’ branches and eventually, a new bank behind the sediment mat will form. While these sediment mat structures help to narrow-in and deepen the channel, it will also help reduce stream temperatures and maintain preferred conditions for coldwater species. Other stream rehab structures, such as wing deflectors can also be created by securing the trees to the bank in a specific form and placement. These structures can help bring form and function back to a stream by diverting flow to a preferred location in the stream while taking pressure off the adjacent banks and reducing erosion. Since Christmas trees are a natural material, it means they are biodegradable and are also an effective tool to add overhanging vegetation and instream habitat for fish and other wildlife.

This year, The Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington collected thousands of trees in the City of Guelph, Ontario, Township of Guelph/Eramosa, and Township of Puslinch, through their Trees for Tots program. They were able to raise over $93,000 for the Foundation while the trees went towards stream rehabilitation efforts for TUC and Conservation Halton. Some trees were also chipped to help build trails in parks and conservation areas.

Thanks to the Children’s Foundation for donating these trees to such a great cause!