Carolinian Canada Conservation Awards 2012

The Caveneys receive their award The Award Winners Individual Larry Cornelis Stan & Anita Caveney Group Green Partnership Program Lifetime Achievement Allen Woodliffe
photos provided by recipients
Individual
Larry Cornelis PORT LAMBTON	A passionate birder and botanist, Cornelis is a certified horticulturist working as a flora and fauna inventory consultant. He has owned his own landscape design and installation business, focusing on native landscaping. He has been a member of the Sydenham Field Naturalists for over 25 years. Among his successes is Bossu Wetland, his 16-acre farmland which he restored into wetland, with help from Stewardship Kent and Ducks Unlimited. 'We are planning this as a true restoration, returning the land to what it was originally 100 years ago when there were wetlands all along the river bank.' comments Larry, who remembers the area from his childhood in the 1950s and '60s. He is currently a partner in Return The Landscape, an organization dedicated to rescuing and replanting species native to Sarnia-Lambton.
Stan & Anita Caveney LONDON	Stan and Anita have both been active members of the conservation and naturalist community in London for many years. More recently, they have been working on land they own near Port Glasgow, in Elgin County. This has added another property to the growing network in Carolinian Canada of lands managed for conservation. Anita has been president of McIlwraith Field Naturalists of London (Nature London) and sits on the Conservation Committee of Nature London. Stan has served on EEPAC (Ecological and Environmental Planning Advisory Committee) and is past president of the Thames Talbot Land Trust, where he continues to be active.
Group
Green Partnership Program CHATHAM-KENT	The Green Partnership Program, which works collectively towards the greening of Chatham-Kent, is comprised of the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority, the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, Stewardship Kent, and the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority. After 6 years of the Greening Partnership, 356,029 seedlings have been planted, 2,725 large stock trees have been planted, and the project has involved 644 volunteers. On one site alone (Van Asten property south of Chatham), 9,000 native Carolinian trees were planted in 2010 and 2011. The program has also resulted in 6.8 acres of tallgrass prairie planted, and 6 wetland projects completed. Many partnerships with local businesses, including Union Gas, Scribendi, and Dillon Consulting, have been formed.
Lifetime Achievement
Allen Woodliffe CHATHAM-KENT	Allen Woodliffe is the recently-retired Ecologist for Aylmer District of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and a tireless community volunteer. Very few individuals have Allen's knowledge of the flora, fauna and ecology of the Carolinian Life Zone. Over his 36 year career, he has played an important role in the creation of the Friends of Rondeau, Tallgrass Ontario and the Tallgrass Recovery Plan. Allen's work on Pelee Island in protecting species at risk led to the development of the Endangered Species Act (2007) in Ontario. Allen has been on dozens of species and spaces recovery teams and helped develop the associated plans/strategies, including the Carolinian Woodland Ecosystem Recovery Strategy. He has captured the natural beauty of Carolinian Canada through his photography, used in a number of publications.