This First Nation in Alberta is fighting climate change with rows and rows of trees

A First Nation in southern Alberta is bringing back an old innovation, with the hopes it'll help them cope with climate change on the Prairies.

Siksika Nation will see shelterbelts planted throughout the community, which are rows of trees planted on the perimeter of properties.

Shelterbelts serve many purposes, including being a natural wind barrier, and capturing moisture in the soil. 

The community is teaming up with Project Forest, an Edmonton-based non-profit organization whose mission is to rewild parts of Alberta. They receive funding from various corporations. 

Eldon Weasel Child, a Blackfoot knowledge keeper, says he has seen a lot of changes in his community over the years, and is hopeful that shelterbelts can help revitalize the environment in Siksika. 

"There's not as much snow, the river flows differently," said Weasel Child, standing in the Siksika flats, where the first trees will be planted later this month. 

"Elders have talked about the difference in how the river flows because it doesn't go as high as it normally did, meaning there's less melt in the mountains." 

Shelterbelts can be seen on farms across the Prairies. One big element the shelterbelts will help Siksika Nation cope with is the wind. 

"We're kind of in a valley, so a lot of the trees that you see here are just mostly along the river bank," said Dale Springchief, special lands project coordinator for Siksika Nation land management. 

"We're living in a valley [where] you can get those extreme winds." 

Mike Toffan, executive director of Project Forest, says the shelterbelts are needed becauses there are noticeable lack of trees in Siksika Nation. 

"When you leave Calgary and you drive towards Siksika, there's a lot of trees and then as soon as you get within the boundaries of the nation there isn't much," said Toffan. 

"Shelterbelts are really important in that part of the province … that has to do with the wind and the amount of precipitation that we get."

At the end of October, Project Forest will hold a ceremony in Siksika and plant 180 seedlings. By spring of next year, 180,000 seedlings will be planted.