Four acres around the Ford St. Thomas Assembly Plant (STAP) are going back to nature as more than 4,700 trees are planted during a two-year ecological restoration project. Employees at the plant are volunteering their time to re-naturalize the area, along with local high school students, air cadets and staff from the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority.

"At Ford, we focus on three main goals - delivering great products, building a strong business, and just as importantly, helping to create a better world. Returning the land surrounding our plant to its natural state is a great way to help the environment and to be a good neighbour," said Gray Greenway, STAP's lean manufacturing manager and one of the many volunteers involved in the ecological restoration effort.

During May, volunteers from STAP and the community will start to plant a wide variety of native trees under the advisement of staff from the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority who were instrumental to the planning of the project.

The species to be planted include: Poplar, Tamarack, Hard Maple, Red Maple, Kentucky Coffee, Bitternut Hickory, Shagbark Hickory, Red Oak and Bur Oak. Each of these trees is found naturally in the region and the hope is that the restored area will attract local wildlife.

STAP is also working with the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), which is an international non-profit organization that helps corporations manage their unused lands in an ecologically sensitive manner for the benefit of wildlife. The WHC offers certification to sites that meet a number of criteria and STAP's reforestation team is working toward earning this certification in the fall of 2006.

Source: www.ford.com