Dirk Brinkman

Back in 1970, Dirk founded Brinkman Reforestation Group and signed his first reforestation contract. Fifty-five years later, his company has quite staggeringly planted over 1.8 billion trees across seven provinces – literally transforming the face of Canadian reforestation.
But he didn’t just scale planting; he rewrote the playbook. Dirk pioneered Canadian hip-worn seedling bags, on-site wilderness camps, and techniques that doubled productivity. When provincial systems failed, he pushed policy reforms that shifted reforestation responsibility to logging companies, embedding accountability where it belonged. He also co-developed early forest carbon offsets, shaping B.C.’s landmark 2009 Forest Carbon Offset Protocol and influencing UN global climate policy.
Alongside planting, Dirk expanded into ecosystem restoration, Indigenous economic partnerships, and climate resilience projects, from slope stabilization to community forests. The result? A legacy that’s ecological, political, and cultural. For thousands of Canadians, tree planting became a rite of passage; for Canada, it has become a key component of our national climate infrastructure.