Canadore College conducting forestry study on carbon absorption as part of new climate project

North Bay's Canadore College is leading a new sustainability project focusing on trees. The project is a 'boots on the ground' study of the yield and carbon absorption rates of trees.

The college will examine the trees in a 650-acre plot of land behind the school’s College Drive campus.

"Studying the trees will help us to maintain the forest's health, mitigate any issues that are ongoing and improve its condition," said project leader Jesse Russell.

"The forest inventory will provide us with an accurate picture of how much carbon is being absorbed within the forest."

For the second straight year, Canadore College has been selected by Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) to participate in their ‘ImpAct Climate Campus Living Labs’ project.

Last year, the school chose to focus on food security for rural and Indigenous communities and solutions to divert greenhouse gas emissions using solar energy to produce food.

The college is one of 10 Canadian post-secondary schools chosen to continue the sustainability work through CICan this year.

The tree study project is already underway. Project leaders and students planted 20 young trees across the various college campuses a few weeks ago.

"Through this initiative, I think we can plant more trees and save our forest," said Alex Mathew, the school’s student council VP of operations.

Russell said the school anticipates the forest will help offset more than 1,000 tons carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

"The forest management plan will help us preserve the ongoing health of the forest and identify opportunities to enhance the carbon sequestration," he said.

"This will also be the case with any of the trees that are planted as part of the project."

Facilitator Elliot Groen will be going into the forest to observe and study the tree species, examining their yield.

Groen is the owner of Forest Gardener and is a certified tree marker, seed collector, and managed forest plan approver. He will be working with the college on this project.

"How many big trees are there? How many little trees are there? What types of different species are? Are there any diseases? Any kind of rare trees," said Groen.

"Carbon sequestration is an outcome of good forest management, which engages local communities in a multi-use framework that provides multiple complementary values."

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With this information, the college is hoping to obtain certification with the Forest Stewardship Council which will result in the creation of a 10-year forest management plan to promote good forest practices. This initiative will be a key component of the school's goal to go completely carbon-neutral by 2031.

"This project will incentivize others to take care of their forest, maintain green spaces and mitigate building operations or human activity on the land," said Russell.

The project is scheduled to run until March, 2024.

For more information on Canadore College and this project, visit their Facebook page. 

A birch tree at Canadore College in North Bay in July 2023. (Eric Taschner/CTV News Northern Ontario)