Soil Restoration: Colliery Lands Park
The soil restoration at Colliery Lands Park is a part of the larger “Growing Forward Together” Project, launched in partnership with Cape Breton University. This initiative aims to plant 50,000 trees across Cape Breton Island, with species and plants carefully selected to be adaptable to future environmental changes.
The Growing Forward Together project is a signature initiative commemorating CBU’s 50th anniversary year, which aims to plant 50,000 trees across Cape Breton Island.
“The restoration approaches we are employing as part of the Growing Forward Together project will support forest succession and promote biodiversity.
Through a Two-Eyed Seeing approach, both Elders and scientists tell us to consider what each tree needs. It is not simply above-ground conditions we need to think about when we plant trees: soil is the cradle substrate that will nurture the growth of these plants and support a healthier, more resilient ecosystem.”
Kathleen Aikens, Executive Director
The soil restoration process at Colliery Lands Park focuses on reintroducing natural microbial relationships to support tree growth in the disturbed soil. We selected early succession tree species that are already inclined to recolonize post-industrial sites, mixed with longer living species that would be expected to grow in this area.
The team gathered soil from the forest surrounding Waterford Lake. The soil is mixed with compost and worm castings, then brewed into a microbial tea to water the newly planted trees. Given the depleted soil, extra nutrients such as spent brewery grains (provided by Breton Brewing) are added to provide additional organic matter to help these microbes establish.
Colliery Lands Park is the site of the former Number 12 and Number 16 Colliery Mines, making this a particularly unique Growing Forward planting site. The soil is a mix of potash, brick fragments, and other introduced fill - far removed from the natural soil that would have been found here prior to the mine’s opening in 1901.
Colliery Lands Park Soil Restoration Video