Cost and Waste Reduction of Tree Planting

There are roughly 3 trillion trees on Earth according to a tally by an international team of scientists. The same team also found that human activity is detrimental to tree abundance worldwide. Since the onset of agriculture about 12,000 years ago, the number of trees worldwide has dropped by 46% (www.nature.com). Today, annual tree harvest vs. production on a world-wide scale shows that humans cut down approximately 15 billion trees a year and re-plant about 5 billion. That's a net loss of 10 billion trees every year, and a rate that would mean the loss of all trees within the next 300 years. people and communities from coast to coast. The forest sector employs about 205,000 people (2018) and contributes $ 23. 7 billion to Canada's nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019. Given its importance, Canada forest sector actively replants trees. In 2016, over 615 million seedlings were planted on 410,000 hectares in Canada's forests (approx. 1,500 seedlings / ha). This number is set to increase with the government recent announcement to invest $ 3.16 Billion in order to plant an additional two billion trees over 10 years, representing approximately 30% more trees, on average per year. Meeting this commitment will help Canada address climate change by reducing carbon pollution and is a key part of Canada's efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. over 615 million seedlings were planted on 410,000 hectares in Canada's forests (approx. 1,500 seedlings / ha). This number is set to increase with the government recent announcement to invest $ 3.16 Billion in order to plant an additional two billion trees over 10 years, representing approximately 30% more trees, on average per year. Meeting this commitment will help Canada address climate change by reducing carbon pollution and is a key part of Canada's efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. over 615 million seedlings were planted on 410,000 hectares in Canada's forests (approx. 1,500 seedlings / ha). This number is set to increase with the government recent announcement to invest $ 3.16 Billion in order to plant an additional two billion trees over 10 years, representing approximately 30% more trees, on average per year. Meeting this commitment will help Canada address climate change by reducing carbon pollution and is a key part of Canada's efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. 

As many countries around the world have tree planting programs, the solution could also assist Canada in becoming a world leader by having the processes and/or approaches and/or technologies exported worldwide to other countries/jurisdictions around the world that have active re-forestation programs. 

Winning businesses may receive up to $150,000 to refine their research and development and, if accepted into Phase 2 of the program, up to $1 million to develop a working prototype.

Desired outcomes and considerations

Essential (mandatory) outcomes

The proposed solution must:

1. Develop novel processes and/or approaches and/or technologies that lead to a reduction in tree seedling production and/or packaging and/or transportation costs, leading to millions of dollars of savings and making re-forestation projects more cost effective while at the same time reducing the amount of waste being generated.
2. Develop novel processes and/or approaches and/or technologies to reduce the cost of tree seedling production.
3. Develop novel processes and/or approaches and/or technologies to reduce the cost of tree seedling packaging and transportation.
4. Develop novel processes and/or approaches and/or technologies to reduce the amount of plastic waste used in the tree planting process.

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