Latest news with #CaldwellFirstNation
CTV News
3 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Caldwell First Nation awarded funding for WWF seed orchard project
A project by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Canada has awarded grants to 13 projects proposed by organizations, businesses, and First Nations communities across the country to support the expansion of seed orchards. Caldwell First Nation in Leamington has been awarded funding, which is aimed at restoring healthy ecosystems, protecting wildlife species and fighting climate change. Seed orchards are used to increase the supply of native plants by producing seeds, and harvesting them to perpetuate the establishment of the plants, and preventing the need to harvest seeds from wild plants, which can weaken them. Since 2021 the WWF Canada's seed orchard program has supported the growth of 35,000 native plants in 20 seed orchards, with over 142 different plant species. World Wildlife Fund Canada-WWF-Canada scaling up seed orchard pr Woodland seed orchard at Native Plants in Claremont, Claremont, Ont., a past seed orchard grantee. (Source: Ryan Godfrey/CNW Group/World Wildlife Fund Canada) (Hand-out/World Wildlife Fund Canada) Other communities awarded include: Wolastoqey Nations in New Brunswick (New Brunswick) Fredericton Botanical Gardens Association (Fredericton, NB) Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg (Maniwaki, Que.) Paysages Écologiques (Rigaud, Que.) Bruce Trail Conservancy (Ontario) Hidden Habitat (Kilworthy, Ont.) Matawa First Nations Management (Thunder Bay, Ont.) Northern Wildflowers (Lively, Ont.) Sioux Valley Dakota Nation (Griswold, Man.) Redd Fish River Society (Ucluelet, BC) Satinflower Nursery (Victoria, BC) Streamside Native Plants (Bowser, BC) Projects include
CBC
11-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Ojibway National Urban Park to be designated, open this year: MP
The Windsor-Essex community will see the opening of a national urban park this year, Windsor-Tecumseh Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk says. Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault was in Windsor over the weekend to reaffirm millions in funding for the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park, joined by Chief Nikki van Oirschot of Caldwell First Nation, as well as MP Irek Kusmierczyk. Guilbeault confirmed $36.1 million in funding over five years for Ojibway National Urban Park, as well as $4.6 million a year in ongoing long-term funding. The funding was first announced in the federal budget last April, and at the time was the first time federal funding had been dedicated to the park. Kusmierczyk is pushing for the park to open as early as the fall, he told CBC Windsor Morning on Monday. "This year we're going to have an Ojibway National Urban Park that's open," he said. "We're going to have a Gordie Howe International Bridge that's open. And we'll have a battery plant that is fully open. So I feel very bullish about — very optimistic about where Windsor Essex is going." Parks Canada now has all the resources that it needs to get agreements signed, to get the governance agreements in place, to set the boundaries of the park and to complete it and to operate it year after year, he said Work has been underway to establish a national urban park in Windsor since 2021 and in 2023, the last piece of undeveloped shoreline, Ojibway Shores, was transferred to Parks Canada for inclusion in the park. In March 2024 Caldwell First National and Parks Canada signed a memorandum of understanding working toward the park. "Caldwell First Nation is committed to ensuring that Anishinaabe perspectives and knowledge are embedded in the governance, management, and protection of this national urban park," said Chief Nikki van Oirschot. "We view this as an opportunity to restore balance, to honour the teachings of our ancestors, and to ensure that future generations inherit a relationship with these lands that is grounded in respect, sustainability, and cultural strength.
