My hopes for the next 60 years

Spending time in nature makes me feel peaceful. When I see the wonders of nature it makes me happy and want to protect it. (Photo by Dane Roy)

Dear Nature Conservancy of Canada,

My favourite place to be in nature is on the shoreline of a lake, like at our cabin at Last Mountain Lake in Saskatchewan. It is a really awesome place to play and spend time in, and also an important place for many different plants and animals. Birds are one of my favourites. At the lake, we see yellow warblers, pelicans, purple martins, waxwings, orioles, gray catbirds and hummingbirds. Every now and then I see a common loon. I like identifying them by their calls — western kingbirds have a very quick and cheerful song. Chickadees and yellow warblers sound an awful lot alike and can be tricky! But when I don’t know what species it is, I enjoy using a book or bird ID app to figure it out.

It is important to protect nature because it is what keeps people alive! If there wasn’t nature, our own species would go extinct. In Saskatchewan, grasslands are one of the most important biomes* that we need to protect. I am really happy that the Nature Conservancy of Canada has been protecting nature for 60 years. Sixty years from now, I will be 69 years old, and when I am that old, I hope our planet looks the same but even healthier!

Spending time in nature makes me feel peaceful. When I see the wonders of nature it makes me happy and want to protect it. So, if you want to help someone understand that protecting nature is important, you just need to let them see the wonders of it, too!

Age 9, Spring Bay, Last Mountain Lake, Saskatchewan

*His aunt, who transcribed this letter for him, assures us he really does know the word “biome” and came up with it on his own in their conversation!

This story originally appeared in the fall 2022 issue of the Nature Conservancy of Canada Magazine. To learn more about how you can receive the magazine, click here.

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