A contribution made to the Tree Canada Foundation during the 44th Annual Premier's Conference will be used to help re-build Charlottetown's forests following Hurricane Juan.
In July, Premier's Conference entered into a partnership with the Tree Canada Foundation to offset the carbon dioxide emissions created by holding the conference. Using a formula that takes into account the number of delegates, their method of travel and the time they'll spend on PEI, Tree Canada determined it would take 565 trees to offset the CO2 emissions.
Now, 300 of those trees will be donated to the City of Charlottetown. The remaining trees will be used to help landscape the new Prince County Hospital. The trees are seedlings and will be used in places where they will insure the ongoing viability of forests following the damage by the storm.
Premier Pat Binns chaired the 44th Annual Premier's Conference.
"Our original intent was to offset CO2 emissions created by holding the Premier's Conference. But I am pleased that these seedlings will now serve another function as well - the process of re-building what is a valuable resource to our capital city and, indeed, to all the citizens of our province."
The Tree Canada Foundation is also in the process of setting up a "Releaf" donation campaign on their website www.tcf-fca.ca. The campaign will collect money to help replant trees destroyed in both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island during the hurricane.