Photo: Abc-7.com
“More than fifty people spent the morning planting hundreds of trees in Cape Coral to help with the water crisis in Southwest Florida.

The event was originally intended to help with deforestation, but more roots in the ground could help prevent future water problems.

Trees work as filtration systems, soaking up fertilizers, metals, pesticides and other dangerous chemicals we don’t want in our waterways.

‘This water crisis is so heartbreaking we want to make sure Floridian’s are aware of the filtration services that trees provide,’explained Wil Revehl, the Advancement Director of the Future Forestry Foundation.

Five hundred trees were planted in Cape Coral along Veterans Memorial Parkway on Saturday.

FGCU professors said that the algae crisis impacting the water is caused by an excessive amount of nutrients polluting our water. They said while planting trees won’t solve the issue, it’ll definitely help.

‘If we all just get more trees into the ground, whether they’re on the watershed or not, they will make a difference,” said Revehl.

Jason Pim is a volunteer ranger with the Calusa Waterkeeper. He said trees naturally soak up nitrogen and phosphorous pollution.

‘The sources of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution are from our watershed and Lake Okeechobee upriver, but we still need to do a lot here locally to keep fertilizers, pesticides, and sprays out of our water,’ said Pim

Members of the future forestry foundation said more than 10 million trees are chopped down every year in Lee County for new development projects and construction.

‘The sheer volume of deforestation in Lee County from development is so astronomical,’said Revehl.

On Earth Day, the Future Forestry Foundation initiated a new project to help with deforestation. It’s called ‘1 million trees for Lee County.’ So far, they’ve planted more than 10,000 trees. Their goal is to repair, restore, and replenish.

Revehl explained, ‘Putting trees where the water is flowing so we can have these trees do a lot more work to protect our waterways.”

‘I’m very solely focused on this water issue if we can’ get that corrected we stand to lose our way of life,’says Pim.

You don’t have to be part of an organization to help out the environment; you can plant a tree anywhere.”

— Ashley Dyer, ABC-7.com
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