A STRATFORD-PERTH LOCAL CARBON OFFSET SOLUTION.
Green. That’s how we’d like the world to be.
Who We Are
Tree Trust is a branch of the Elora Environment Centre, a non-profit registered charity. We are committed to identifying and preserving mature trees in Ontario, thus sequestering carbon in the roots, trunk, and branches of these trees.
What We Do
We employ local certified arborists to assess and maintain candidate trees to extend their life. When possible, two saplings are planted nearby to take over when the mature tree eventually must be removed.
How To Contribute
The website tool helps to calculate your contribution to offset air and auto travel. In lieu of travel, you can also simply make a donation to offset your lifestyle carbon footprint. Tax receipts will be issued, and donors will be informed about the location of the trees receiving treatment.
About Carbon
Through photosynthesis, plants and trees fix carbon from the air and incorporate it into structural and physiological molecules. On average, trees are 50% carbon by weight, so trees incorporate more carbon each year as they grow. When trees die, the carbon is slowly released back into the soil as the dead tree decomposes or released to the atmosphere is the wood is burned.
The Ideal Canopy
A 40% canopy cove is ideal for cities and can be achieved if 52% of the available plantable place becomes canopy cover. Industrial, institutional, commercial, parkland and low density residential are prime targets for future planting efforts due to their large plantable space areas and low relative canopy cover.
Jessica Brommer, University of Guelph thesis 2011
Ecological Services of Trees
Ecosystem services are benefits that people obtain from ecosystems.
These are: regulation (regulation of climate and air quality, water purification, pollination), provisioning (food production, biomass, freshwater, mineral resources), support (nutrient cycling, primary production, soil formation), cultural services (recreation, aesthetic views, cultural heritage).
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Ecosystems and Human Well-being. Washington, DC: Island Press; 2005.
Take charge of your carbon emissions from travel and improve the environmental sustainability of your community.
Meet Stratford-Perth’s Tree Trust coordinators
Geoff Love (left) is an environmentalist who has worked as a waste diversion and climate change consultant across Canada and internationally for over 35 years. He is president of Love Environment, a small, specialized Canadian environmental consulting company.
Marianne Van Den Heuvel (middle) is a lifelong resident of Perth County, and has enjoyed long and rewarding relationships with trees. She was educated in Resource Management and has extensive experience in evaluating forest soils (Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry) and conservation techniques (Maitland Valley Conservation Authority, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs).
Jane Eligh-Feryn (right) has a master’s in Landscape Architecture and has worked as an environmental planner in the private sector and a park planner for Metropolitan Toronto. She currently owns Eligh-Feryn Landscape Planning and Design in Stratford.
Get Connected
Whether you are looking to get involved or have questions about the organization, we’d love to connect with you.
Please complete the form below and a team member will be in touch with you as soon as possible.
Email: [email protected] | Phone: 519-305-0984
Contact Us
Latest News and Events
Click the titles below to stay updated on our latest news and events, or click here to see all of Stratford-Perth’s posts to date.
- Stratford council puts tree-preservation above cost for Argyle Street reconstruction
Read the full article by The Stratford Beacon Herald and learn how Tree Trust Stratford-Perth advocated for the Argyle Street trees. - “Platanos in Arna”: a Stratford councillor shares her tree story
“The world is changing: I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, and I smell it in the air.” Treebeard ― J.R.R. Tolkien, LOTR There is no denying that trees are essential for environmental sustainability and quality of life in urban and rural settings. Preserving trees, especially large trees, is a …“Platanos in Arna”: a Stratford councillor shares her tree story Read More »
- Stratford-Perth at St. James Anglican Church
“Tree Trust, a non-profit group committed to identifying and preserving mature trees in Ontario, was on side Friday morning at St. James Anglican Church in Stratford before Tim’s Tree Care started work pruning branches from a red maple on the property estimated to be just shy of 100 years old and weighing 33.5 tonnes. Pictured, …