Do you know a conservation champion in your community? A great way for us all to show appreciation for the people who do so much for nature is to nominate them for an Ontario Nature award. Our 2024 Conservation Award nominations close on March 25. Visit our webpage to read the details of the awards procedure and to take note of important dates. Nature Network groups qualify to submit nominations for conservation champions in their region.
The Friends of Stittsville Wetlands (FoSW) is a newly formed group that joined the Nature Network late in 2023. They are working to protect the Goulbourn Wetland Complex, which spans over 906 hectares, and provides a home to species at risk including Blanding turtles, snapping turtles, and over 150 species of birds, including four that are at risk.
As FoSW builds momentum, they are thrilled to announce that they have received a grant of $3,500 from the Ottawa Stewardship Council (OSC) – another Nature Network group! This funding will help the newly created not-for-profit organization build its capacity to protect a Provincially Significant Wetland that is on the doorstep of Stittsville and threatened by continuing development pressures as well as policy changes by the Government of Ontario in late 2022.
The OSC shares FoSW’s mission of protecting these wetlands, which provide ecosystem services like carbon sequestration, water storage and release during drought and flooding, and improving water quality. Funds for FoSW came from a reserve held by OSC that it received in 2014 from Waste Management as part of its community compensation for the landfill on Carp Road.
This collaboration shows the power of groups working together for the greater good of nature! Congratulations FoSW and thank you OSC!
We are excited to again be holding our annual Youth Summit for Mother Earth! For 2024, we are continuing to offer a unique cross-cultural summit that is planned and run by Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth leaders from across Ontario. This event will be run in collaboration with our partners the Indigenous Environmental Institute at Trent University, Plenty Canada and Walpole Island Land Trust. The 2024 Youth Summit for Mother Earth will be held in-person at Tawingo Outdoor Centre in Huntsville from September 13 – 15, 2024.
Nature Network groups can sponsor a local youth (aged 14 – 20) to attend the conference, helping to contribute to the future of conservation. We are deeply grateful for the ongoing support that member groups have demonstrated for the Youth Summit in the past. We could not hold such a successful event without you!
To learn more about the 2024 Youth Summit and the sponsorship process, please contact Maya Davidson, at 416-444-8419 ext. 280 or mayad@ontarionature.org.
See our events calendar for a complete listing of events organized by Ontario Nature and Nature Network groups.
To submit your public events to our online calendar, email them to noahc@ontarionature.org and allow up to a week for posting. Please send only events that are open to the public and no more than three per month.
We want to include more content from the network and will feature a story or two each month from network groups, as well as other resources. We encourage you to share your stories and links by emailing them to naturenetwork@ontarionature.org.
Ontario Nature @ Centre for Social Innovation720 Bathurst Street Toronto, Ontario M5S 2R4
Photos © Mark Schwarz, Friends of Stittsville Wetlands, Gillian Johnson, Espy Salas, Kristen Setala