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For Immediate Release

Media Release: Niagara teens help nature as a result of Carolinian Canada’s Grow Wild! Boot Camps

Fort Erie - June 18^th, 2014 – Take an idea and run with it! That’s what 90 high school students are doing as a result of Carolinian Canada’s Grow Wild! Species at Risk Boot Camps. School might be out soon, but the habitat-friendly outreach projects they are developing are gaining momentum as a result of this special workshop series.

Earlier this spring, Carolinian Canada delivered a number of workshops to high school students in Chatham-Kent, Essex, Elgin and Niagara to teach them about the importance of local nature and empower students to help. Many of the species living in this area of southern Ontario known as the Carolinian Life Zone are in peril. Currently, more than 500 species are listed as rare, endangered or threatened.

Twenty-four students from environmentally focused classes attended a Grow Wild! Boot Camp at Ridgeway Crystal Beach District High School. Students learned about the Carolinian Life Zone through live snake demonstrations, presentations and games. They then rose to the challenge of designing their own projects based on a local issue that sparked their interest.

Some students decided they would like to develop a program to work with local elementary schools to create habitat such as bird boxes and feeders for the schoolyard. Others began developing an educational campaign they could roll out across their school that would explain the importance of snakes and help prevent their persecution. And one group began designing road signs to help protect snapping turtles during nesting season.

Community volunteers from local organizations were on hand to assist the students in developing their ideas. In the future they will help link them with key individuals and organizations to assist them in their implementation.

Environmental educator, Lauren Selby, notes students typically suggest people can “bike more” or “plant trees” as ways to help nature. But by the workshop’s conclusion, Selby receives more informed, impassioned answers to the same question. “Students tell me about the huge need for more environmental education, describe the importance of planting native plants and let me know that Ontario’s snakes are harmless and should not be hurt.” She says, “At the end of the day, the empowerment and connection to their local environment is incredible.”

It’s the cumulative results of local actions, such as those taken by students, that fuel Carolinian Canada’s Big Picture vision of connecting people to nature and creating an ecologically linked landscape. Carolinian Canada Coalition plans to continue to seek funding for next school year to reach new students as well re-visit and support existing campaigns.

Carolinian Canada is thankful for the support of TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and the Ontario Government for making these workshops possible.

About Carolinian Canada Coalition: Carolinian Canada Coalition brings together diverse groups and individuals to advance a collaborative conservation strategy for healthy ecosystems and thriving communities in the Carolinian Life Zone. Stretching from Toronto to Windsor, Canada’s Deep South is among North America’s most vibrant and fragile ecoregions.

For Media Contact and Inquiries:

Bronwen Buck, Outreach Coordinator, bbuck@carolinian.org, 519-341-3199

Lauren Selby, Environmental Educator, 519-994-4326