PEI

Fiona gave P.E.I. an opportunity to foster healthier forests

This week on the Good Question, P.E.I. podcast: What is the province doing to replenish the massive loss of trees caused by post-tropical storm Fiona?

Diversity of trees is the key, then let nature do its thing, expert says

Man with grey beard standing outdoors in front of tree.
Gary Schneider, co-manager of the Macphail Woods Ecological Forestry Project, says many of the shallow-rooted trees that blew down during post-tropical storm Fiona in 2022 were an example of the wrong trees in the wrong places. (Nicola MacLeod/CBC)

This story is from this week's episode of the new CBC podcast Good Question, P.E.I. 

Listen here.

Good Question, P.E.I. is available on the CBC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts.


There's no question many Islanders were shocked when they looked out their windows the morning after post-tropical storm Fiona on Sept. 24, 2022.

For some, it might seem like a distant memory. The branches have long been cleared from the roads, the roof shingles have been replaced, the fences have been mended. And the lights? They come on pretty much every time you flip the switch.

But it won't be that quick of a fix for the creatures that live in the forests. They lost hundreds of thousands of trees that can't be replaced by calling a handyman.

Ken Doiron of New Glasgow wondered what the Island is doing to replenish the massive loss of trees caused by Fiona. So naturally, he sent the question to Nicola MacLeod, host of the CBC podcast Good Question, P.E.I.

What we found out is that the province is planting about 1.3 million seedlings this year. It's working with watershed groups, and since about 90 per cent of the land on P.E.I. is privately owned, the government is offering financial assistance to woodlot owners to help them clear their land and replenish their stock.

An aerial view of Fiona's path of destruction in P.E.I.

2 years ago
Duration 0:53
This drone footage gathered by CBC video producer Shane Hennessey on Sunday shows the extensive damage caused by post-tropical storm Fiona in parts of the Island.

Environment Minister Steven Myers said climate change and weather events like Fiona will be factored into reforestation plans.

"We're looking at all avenues to make sure that what we do is going to be a forest that gets planted that we can count on for the next 40 or 50 years," he said.

"But the fact that, you know, a hurricane like Fiona could come in and just wipe it out anyway is something that we're going to have to constantly worry about."

It's hard to find any corner of the Island not touched by post-tropical storm Fiona. Especially in the woods. Replanting has started, but what should we be planting? And can the species we choose help P.E.I. build resiliency against climate change?

Gary Schneider is the co-manager of the Macphail Woods Ecological Forestry Project. He said many of the trees that came down during Fiona were destined to fall in the next few years anyway.

"And they're probably trees that weren't supposed to be here, certainly not in those numbers. And so you can predict pretty easily that bad things are gonna happen because we're going to get more wind."

Schneider gave the example of white spruce, which have shallow roots and were planted on old agricultural sites. For forests to be sustainable, he said, there needs to be a wide variety of hardier trees such as red oak. 

He said people can help the process along by planting trees — and nature will do its own part.

"We were doing tree plantings in Victoria Park with kids and I saw a couple of little red maple seedlings popping up and it was like, 'Oh my God, this is exactly what's supposed to be happening.' We can take this trauma and rebuild better for us, right? Things can come back. So what we try to do is, again, be a little smarter."


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shane Ross

Journalist

Shane Ross is a journalist with CBC News on Prince Edward Island. Previously, he worked as a newspaper reporter and editor in Halifax, Ottawa and Charlottetown. You can reach him at shane.ross@cbc.ca.

With files from Nocola MacLeod