Volunteers braved the rain as they spent Saturday morning planting thousands of trees along the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia border on Saturday.

In only three hours, they were able to plant 2,500 trees as part of the Nature Conservancy of Canada's Acadian Forest Restoration Project.

“A lot of it has been degraded, so a lot of the species you'd usually find here are no longer found,” says Margo Morrison, director of conservation science. “They've been either ploughed for agriculture, or they've been cleared for development. So we're trying to reintroduce some of the native species that would be found here naturally.”

The field is part of the Chignecto isthmus, in a transition zone between the northern boreal forests and southern deciduous.

While Morrison says trees would eventually grow there on their own, they might not necessarily be the ones that make the Acadian forest so unique.

“Sometimes you'll get what's called pioneer species, or species that like disturbed areas, and we have a lot of that across the province, so we wanted to introduce some of the species that need a little more help getting here,” says Morrison.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada bought the property back in 2014, and its former owner says it's a key piece of the corridor with bear, moose and other species.

The organization protects roughly 3,600 acres in the area.

“The environment in general is degrading so quickly, and this is one thing we can do to help restore some of the natural forest in the area,” says Andrew MacFarlane, who lives in the area.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada says protecting the land is about more than just deforestation, as wildlife often won't cross the Chignecto isthmus without proper forest cover.

“It's extremely important for moose in particular, because moose in Nova Scotia are considered endangered and we have a lot of moose in New Brunswick, so we're trying to get them to pass in between the provinces and populate Nova Scotia,” says volunteer program co-ordinator Courtney Thompson.

While it will take many years for the saplings to change the look of the field, volunteers are confident they've planted the seeds of change.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Cami Kepke.