Veterans Affairs to plant thousands of trees at Beaumont-Hamel memorial

Veterans Affairs Canada has announced a plan to preserve the landscape at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial in northern France by planting 5,000 to 6,000 trees.

The plan is part of a 10-year project that will see 70,000 trees in total planted at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, where the existing forests are at the end of their lifespan, as well as at Beaumont-Hamel.

"We need to make sure that they are kept up the standard that the memory of our fallen deserve," said Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay.

The federal departmentwill work with experts in Canada and France to develop a tree management plan for Beaumont-Hamel, said Veterans Affairs' director of European operations, John Desrosiers.

Desrosiers said the Beaumont-Hamel site contains some forested areabut doesn't have as many trees as the Vimy Memorial. The plan isn't to plant new trees on the battlefield itselfbut to preserve the existing forests to maintain the integrity of the 50-hectare site.

"The key goal is to ensure that the forested area or the green spaces continue to showcase that same look and feel that they have today, generations from now," Desrosiers said.

Landscape architect Rudolph H.K. Cochius incorporated touches from Newfoundland in his design for the memorial. Many of the trees at the site are European versions of species often found in Newfoundland like spruce, dogberry and juniper.

Desrosiers said the reforestation plan will take climate change into considerationand ensure the new trees will be a "hardy-type" species that will last 60 to 70 years.

Preserving history

Beaumont-Hamel is the site where the Newfoundland Regiment fought during the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916. Out of the more than 800 Newfoundland soldiers who fought on that day, only 68 were able to answer roll call the next day.

The battle was devastating for Newfoundland's small population, and July 1 is still an official day of remembrance in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Desrosiers said the project is also accepting input from the Newfoundland and Labrador government and the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.

Beaumont-Hamel is the biggest of the six memorials in France, Belgium and Turkey that are part of the Trail of the Caribou. The project was led by Father Thomas Nangle, a Newfoundland Regiment chaplain.

Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan said the plan is a way to honour soldiers like his great-great-uncle Richard Shortall, who died at Beaumont-Hamel.

"We will make sure that they can be visited by generations to come using the power of nature and planting trees to watch over our fallen soldiers," he said.

Read morefrom CBC Newfoundland and Labrador