400 trees planted for National Tree Day in Calgary’s Deerfoot Athletic Park

Shovels hit the dirt in Calgary’s Deerfoot Athletic Park on Saturday, as hundreds of volunteers helped plant 400 trees as part of National Tree Day.

Volunteers and staff with Tree Canada and the City of Calgary say the event was a great way to strengthen the city’s ecosystem and its community.

Lauren Taylor and Kyle Samson say this was their first time planting trees in Calgary, with their favourite part being “the physical activity.”

“Kind of getting out there and getting your hands dirty, lots of fun,” Samson said.

“It’s just a nice opportunity to come and plant some trees and give back to the community and help make nature better for everybody,” Taylor said.

Staff with Tree Canada tells CityNews that planting trees is critical to the health of the environment.

“They produce oxygen. They sequester carbon. They provide habitat for birds. A filtration for pollution,” said Gerard Fournier, an Alberta Forestry Specialist with Tree Canada.

“This site was selected specifically because it’s right next to the busiest highway in Alberta, which is Deerfoot Trail. Trees are really good at filtering out particulate pollution from automobiles.”

Some volunteers said it was important for them to come to the park to support future generations of Calgarians who will make use of the space.

“How these trees are all connected underground, being so closely planted next to each other, and the fact that we as a community can be so closely connected above ground, really is awesome,” said Shan Guna.

This weekend also marks the end of National Forestry Week, with events in Calgary wrapping up on Saturday.