As members of the Conservation Youth Corps (CYC), seven teens from Orangeville District Secondary School teamed up with Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) from July 5 to 9 to help build a healthier natural environment.

When the week was over, the teens had planted more than 250 trees and shrubs. They also helped clean up sensitive trout streams and assisted CVC staff by monitoring and assessing fish populations along the Credit River.

The teens augmented stream restoration work already under way on Mill Creek by planting native trees and shrubs at the creek’s headwaters.

Increasing plant cover along creeks and rivers helps prevent erosion, cools the water by providing shade, increases plant biodiversity and helps combat climate change.

Every week during the summer, four crews of teens from the Youth Corps work somewhere in the Credit River Watershed on stewardship projects.