Guest letter from the editor

Kevin Teneycke

Dear friends,

I have been privileged to experience our country’s vast and open grasslands — seas of gold and green, where blades of grass sway in the gentle breeze. Prairie wildflowers add pops of colour to the rolling plains. The wafts of fragrant prairie sage make you feel that this is the world’s biggest herb garden. These are my favourite things about the Canadian prairies, which both captivate and sustain. I have experienced this amazing landscape and my children have, too, but I worry that their children may never experience these same opportunities.

In my 20 years of delivering conservation programming, I’ve seen a wave of change — even in just the last decade — that has enabled us to work toward innovative solutions that are compatible with conservation and livestock producers. When conservation groups collaborate with donors and supporters, we can provide ranchers with the financial resources to do things that increase the quality of grasslands, like rotational grazing.

Meaningful changes like these take a whole-of-society approach to conservation. In this issue’s feature story, you’ll read about the Stewardship Investment Program, funded through the Weston Family Prairie Grasslands Initiative — the largest ever private investment in conserving Canada’s grasslands. This program is a great example of society’s collective effort to protect habitat and the species that depend on them.

At the Nature Conservancy of Canada, we take to heart the belief that when nature thrives, people thrive. With the arrival of warmer weather, I invite you to reconnect with a part of nature that you love, learn about Canada’s grasslands and how you can lend a helping hand.

Yours in conservation,

Kevin Teneycke
Regional Vice President – Manitoba