Afforestation, the planting of trees on abandoned or under-utilized agricultural lands, has occurred to varying degrees in Ontario since the turn of the 20th century. Knowledge of plantation establishment techniques has been gained through experience and experimentation, and has been relatively well documented. At the turn of the 21st century, the level of tree planting reached a several decade low, resulting in the loss of some on-the-ground expertise.
The forestry and related communities recognized this deficiency, and began to actively pursue the revitalization of afforestation efforts in the province. The Ontario Forestry Association, was in the forefront of these efforts. Subsequently in 2003, the Canadian Forest Service of Natural Resources Canada announced the Forest 2020 Plantation Demonstration and Assessment initiative, which has the objectives of establishing fast-growing plantations on agricultural lands to assess climate change mitigation, and private sector investment potential.
With this renewed interest in afforestation came the recognition that both seasoned practitioners and those new to the endeavour would value a current compilation of knowledge on the subject.