A successful day of tree planting at Meeting Lake 03
Volunteers getting a tutorial prior to tree planting (Photo by NCC)
For the sixth straight year, the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Meeting Lake 03 Conservation Volunteers tree planting event brought staff and volunteers together to support forest conservation in Saskatchewan. This is my second...
5 ways to get involved in conservation this Canadian Environment Week
Building bat boxes at Old Man on His Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area, SK (Photo by NCC)
Since 1971, Canadians have been celebrating the nation’s natural heritage and the strides made in environmental protection during Canadian Environment Week. The week-long observance also includes World Environment Day (June 5) and World...
Connecting to conservation
Allery Safruk and Mena Wallace, volunteer conservation interns and CCC participants, conducting invasive species control. (Photo by NCC)
Collaboration for conservation The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is one of many partnership organizations holding 12-week placements for a number of lucky Canadian Conservation Corps (CCC) participants — me included! The placement...
Getting my feet wet as a conservation intern
A field of tall grasses in Backus Woods. This area was where controlled burns were conducted in the previous year. (Photo by NCC)
Although I have only been working with Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) for a few months, my relationship with the organization goes back many years. My family have been NCC supporters for as long as I can remember. We attended Conservation...
Take them to feel the forest: Winter sensory activities for kids
Snowshoeing in Parc de la Gatineau, QC (Photo by DJ)
I‘ve walked in the woods all my life, but it wasn't until I took young children with me that I noticed how fascinated they were with the variety of textures found in their surroundings. Kids can spend hours feeling, building, touching and...
Volunteers make Big Valley flourish
Volunteers and staff prior to planting (Photo by NCC)
The Qu’Appelle River Valley is one of Saskatchewan’s prominent scenic landscapes. Its picturesque slopes and waterways host a wide variety species and offer views unlike any other in the province. I’ve driven through this region...
Clowns of the sea: the Atlantic puffin
Atlantic puffins (Photo by Laurel Bernard/NCC staff)
The summer of 1999 was a unique one for me. I spent three months living on a small 23-acre (9.5 hectare) island 16 kilometres away from the nearest land. Machias Seal Island in New Brunswick was home to two full-time lighthouse keepers, three...
UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration: 5 ways NCC volunteers are contributing
Restored wetland, Pelee Island, ON (Photo by NCC)
2021-2030 marks the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, indicating the urgent need for humans to prevent and protect our Earth’s ecosystems from further degradation. As a new summer intern with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC),...
Do you get enough Vitamin N?
Father and child by the lake (Photo by Laubenstein Karen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Wikimedia Commons)
You find yourself breathing more deeply, taking in the sharp scent of pine and the sweet mustiness of leaves returning to dust on the forest floor beneath your feet. For a moment, the quiet is broken only by birdsong — the notes that...
What is a legacy?
Threshing machine, a modern version of one that was used on the family farm back in the day (Photo by Ben Franske)
It wasn’t until I became a grandparent that I started pondering the question, “What is my legacy?” Separating the wheat from the chaff took a great deal of time and thought. It was while reviewing my past experiences that led me...
