2008
Arts and Culture
Qaujisaqtiit Society, Ottawa, Ontario $20,000
Nunavut Heritage Mentorship and Training Institute
The mentorship and training institute is part of a broad framework to ensure relevant and sustainable training for Nunavut heritage stakeholders from communities throughout Nunavut, where each community has its own collection of artefacts and heritage items. Building partnerships and a network of heritage stakeholders engaged in professional development will help ensure the long-term sustainability of the Nunavut heritage sector.
Environment
Canadian Environmental Law Association, Toronto, Ontario $10,000
Mapping and Reporting on Pollution Levels for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Ecosystem
The most up-to-date pollution data will be used to map and analyse pollution levels in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basins, and the Pollution Watch website will be expanded to incorporate additional source-water protection maps, demonstrating the relationship beween source-water protection and the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem. This updated mapping and reporting serves to inform the public, public interest organizations, government and other stakeholders who are concerned with the need to reduce toxic substance releases into these waters and to restore and protect the Great Lakes.
Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy, Toronto, Ontario $9,800
Legal Regulation of Antibiotics and Hormone Growth Promoters in Canadian Livestock and Poultry
For a legal analysis and report on the regulation of antibiotics and hormone growth promoters routinely given to beef cattle and poultry, beyond their practical use therapeutically to treat illness and disease. Biologically active chemical compounds contained in agricultural waste are considered an emerging threat to fish, birds, and other wildlife as well as to surface water and aquifers. The European Union has banned the use of antibiotics and growth promoters for non-therapeutic purposes. This report will recommend similar regulations be put in place for Canada.
www.phschool.com/science/science_news/articles/hormones_beef.html
www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1817701
Climate Action Network Canada, Ottawa, Ontario $10,000
The Path Forward for Climate Action in Canada
This grant is directed to Climate Action Network's communications work, coordinating and strengthening the work of its more than 50 member organizations around inter-provincial policy, events and processes, in order to promote the upward harmonization of provincial climate policy. The communications work will also cover regional and transboundary climate initiatives between Canada and the United States, and key international meetings scheduled over the next two years. The Climate Action Network continues to act as a hub for information exchange and will use its position strategically to keep the media engaged on inter-provincial and international climate change issues. First of a two-year grant.
Conservation Council of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick $10,000
Health Watch: Making the Pollution-Health Connect
Health Watch will focus public attention on the links between pollution and health in New Brunswick. With its own French/English web page on the Conservation Council's website, Health Watch will map pollution and community health "hotspots", highlighting the incidence of elevated levels of cancers in communities around the province and the relationship to known industrial emissions and pesticide use. The web page will also feature profiles on community health, emissions data, current research on environmental contaminants and health, and reports on policy initiatives relating to health and the environment. First of a two-year grant.
Conservation Foundation of Greater Toronto, Toronto, Ontario $30,000
Recovery Plan and Strategic Restoration Program
The recovery plan and targeted land restoration are designed to address the loss of natural cover and biodiversity on lands within the jurisdiction of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. This will provide for a robust level of ecosystem recovery that is strategic and effectively prioritized for habitat securement and restoration. It will assemble, map, and analyze data, expand existing layers of forest and wetlands, and consolidate both umbrella and individual species habitat information. Restoration activities will focus on areas that can provide the greatest potential improvement in biodiversity and species recovery. First of a three-year $ 90,000 grant.
www.trca.on.ca/conservation_foundation
www.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr/biodiversity
Couchiching Conservancy, Orillia, Ontario $15,000
The Land Between Collaborative Project
The Land Between (TLB) is a 40 km-wide band of shallow limestone and granite bedrock extending along the southern edge of the Canadian shield from Georgian Bay to Kingston. It is extremely diverse in its landforms and ecological communities because of strong north-south transitions in geology, elevation, and climate. The project brings focus to the distinctive and vulnerable nature of this region requiring smart land management and planning practices, research, outreach and conservation measures to celebrate and sustain key features and functions of the TLB landscape. Funding in 2008 is directed to three project areas: (1) developing and publicizing conservation strategies for 3 to 4 focal areas in the central and eastern parts of TLB (2) promoting stewardship and conservation opportunities with landowners within the focal areas (3) communications work, and support to the Annual Research Forum to share emerging information. Second of a two-year grant.
Ducks Unlimited Canada, Barrie, Ontario $10,000
Headwaters Healthy Wetlands
A broad partnership initiative promoting wetland conservation and habitat restoration in the headwaters area of five major river systems, most of which flow from the Dundalk Plateau, south of Georgian Bay. The 8 to 10 wetland demonstration sites developed as templates will be supported by educational workshops, technical advice and in some cases, financial assistance to help rural landowners construct or restore wetlands on their own farmland. Wetland conservation and enhancement will benefit local water quality and quantity in Wellington, Dufferin and Grey county rural areas as well as the downstream urban centres of Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge and Brantford. First of a two-year grant.
Ecojustice Canada, Toronto, Ontario $25,000
Reducing Toxic Discharges in the Great Lakes Basin
The project seeks to address the need for cumulative effects assessment prior to new industrial approvals being issued for wastewater discharges, particularly in areas burdened by pollutants from multiple industrial facilities. Specific facility discharges will be identified, and specific impacts of current pollutant discharges will be measured and analyzed. A detailed review of existing regulations will determine if current effluent standards conform to the best available treatment technology and whether they adequately cover new and emerging pollutants of concern.
Environmental Defence, Toronto, Ontario $20,000
Toxic Nation Testing
To support further testing of pollutants carried in the bodies of average Canadians, with a focus on heavy metals and other harmful chemicals, exposures to which come from everyday household products and consumer goods. The project aims to reinforce the need for aggressive timelines in eliminating the most toxic substances, and for regulations to control other toxic chemicals currently being permitted in consumer products. Test results, conclusions and recommendations will be reviewed by experts in toxicology and environmental contaminants.
www.environmentaldefence.ca/campaigns/toxicnation.htm
Green Budget Coalition, Ottawa, Ontario $50,000
The Green Budget Coalition represents 19 of Canada's leading environmental and conservation organizations. The Coalition submits 3 - 6 priority recommendations for government policy-makers to consider, in advance of the annual federal budget. The goal of the Coalition is to assist the government in developing and implementing strategic budgetary and fiscal measures critical to long-term environmental sustainability.
Natural Step, Ottawa, Ontario $36,250
Atlantic Canada Sustainability Initiative
In partnership with GPI Atlantic and the Nova Scotia Environmental Network, The Natural Step is coordinating a year long exercise in building capacity and commitment to sustainable development among participating municipalities, universities, businesses and other key organizations using The Natural Step's systematic planning process as a common language and framework. Participants have committed to building capacity and competence in sustainability, to implementing action plans, and to expanding networks and opportunities for collaboration, helping to move Atlantic communities toward sustainability on a regional scale.
Nature Conservancy of Canada, Montréal, Québec $20,000
Two Countries One Forest
2C1Forest is a large Canada-US.cross-border collaboration of conservation organizations, researchers and foundations working to connect and protect key linkages across the Northern Appalachian/Acadian Ecoregion through a science-based, landscape-scale conservation initiative. This grant helps support a specialist-technician working with local communities and conservation groups to understand and analyse topographical maps, forestry maps, legal surveys, geological and agricultural overlays in order to integrate local needs and local economies into the broader ecoregion concept.
Otonabee Conservation Authority, Peterborough, Ontario $8,000
Comparing Policy and Practice between European Jurisdictions, Ontario and the Great Lakes Basin
This report will analyse successful models for integrated watershed management, drinking-water source protection, and effective land-use planning policies for the protection of natural areas, comparing European jurisdictions with those of Ontario and others in the Great Lakes Basin. The analysis will provide points of comparison for environmental NGOs, Conservation Authorities and other agencies to evaluate their programs and activities and align codes of practice and policies where appropriate.
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario $35,000
Sustainable Prosperity
The Sustainable Prosperity Initiative brings together a broad coalition of business, academic and environmental leaders to develop a blueprint for transforming the Canadian economy, incorporating environmental costs and benefits into market prices. The research network is working together to better understand and apply market-based instruments for protecting the environment in cost-effective ways. First of a three-year grant.
World Wildlife Fund Canada, Toronto, Ontario $25,000
Mackenzie Valley Protected Areas Strategy
The Protected Areas Strategy (PAS) demonstrates how the 'Conservation First Principle' has prevailed in creating a network of large protected areas in the Mackenzie River Basin. The goal of withdrawing land for protection anticipates the proposed gas pipeline, and other associated industrial development. Areas now under interim protection are the result of a working consensus reached between aboriginal communities, local governement and the federal government, with assistance from environmental NGOs. In November 2007, the Government of Canada formalized interim protection for an additional 19,350 square kilometres around the east arm of Great Slave Lake to add to the existing 7,000 square kilometre proposed national park reserve. Further north near fort Good Hope, the significant wetlands of the Ramparts River area will become a 15,000 square kilometre national wildlife area. Finally, the 60,000 + square kilometres known as the Akaitcho Settlement Lands and claimed by the Dene First Nation, will be set aside for interim protection over five years to prevent mining and mineral exploration and allow time to plan for permanent protection and/or indigenous title. Fourth year of a five-year grant.
2007
Arts and Culture
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario $25,000
ArtsAccess Initiative
Four institutions are engaged in this multi-year initiative to foster community development through the arts: the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Thunder Bay Art Gallery and Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford/Six Nations. ArtsAccess encourages civic involvement, community awareness and social change through arts education and programming in schools, galleries, community centres, festivals, streetscapes, storefronts and other public spaces. "Collection X" is the web-based platform for this involvement with the arts found at: www.collectionx.museum where online visitors can browse permanent art collections but also upload their own content to create virtual exhibitions by adding stories, other images, video and audio clips. Third year of a three-year grant.
Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg, Manitoba $50,000
To meet some of the Museum's information technology needs for remote access functions. This will include the creation of a virtual museum and virtual exhibitions. For those visiting the Museum via the Internet, an electronic forum for symposia, town halls and chat rooms will provide opportunities for exchanging ideas on current and emerging issues concerning human rights, both in Canada and around the world. Second of a two-year grant.
www.canadianmuseumforhumanrights.com
Evergreen, Toronto, Ontario $100,000
A.P. Coleman Geological Centre
The geological legacy contained in the North Slope at the Don Valley Brickworks will be explained in the A.P.Coleman Geological Centre, an essential part of Evergreen's re-telling of the history, architecture, geology and industrial processes at the brickworks. Examining a period of about 135,000 years, the interpretive centre will describe the various glaciations starting with the York Till, oldest glacial deposit in the Toronto region, and the warm-climate interglacial deposits sandwiched between cold-climate glacial strata. Fossil materials to be examined will include caddisflies, diatoms, trilobites, crinoids, molluscs, pollen, and bones from giant beaver, bears, buffalo and mammoths. In the 1890's Professor Coleman produced one of the first maps of the glacial deposits of the Toronto region, and later was Head of the Department of Geology at the University of Toronto. Due to his work on the exposed sediments recording 100,000 years of climate history, the Scarborough Bluffs and the Don Valley Brickworks continue to be visited by geologists from around the world.
Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, Ontario $55,000
LTTA Active Ecology and Youth Empowerment Initiative
The Ontario Arts Foundation has engaged Learning Through the Arts (LTTA) to develop an active ecology and youth empowerment initiative using the LTTA framework and tools to deliver interactive environmental education. This initiative follows on the provincial government's announcement to integrate environmental learning into core curriculum in Ontario. The initiative will promote creative action, collaboration, and participation in ecological issues. It will be launched in six regions in Ontario in 2008: Windsor, Niagara, Thunder Bay and Sudbury, Ottawa, Toronto and the GTA. This learning template will be available to other provinces and territories from 2009 and will likely be launched in Alberta and the Northwest Territories.
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario $90,000
Dictionary of Old English
Web publication of the first eight letters of the Dictionary of Old English (DOE) has enabled the DOE to be linked electronically with the Oxford English Dictionary. This technological advance allows readers to see the development of many words from their very beginning into Modern English. It is a first step toward building a tool for cross-searching dictionaries and provides an opportunity for understanding the interplay between language and culture. Second of a three-year grant.
Environment
Canary Research Institute for Mining, Environment and Health, Ottawa, Ontario $18,000
Helping Communities Protect Fish Habitat from Mining Impacts
The Research Institute will analyse the implications of proposed changes to the Federal Fisheries Act, one of the few federal laws that protects the environment from mining impacts. The Institute also continues to work with First Nations in remote communities to carry out community-based monitoring of water quality, fish populations and fish habitat, primarily at sites in BC, the Yukon and Newfoundland. Second of a 2-year grant.
Couchiching Conservancy, Orillia, Ontario $15,000
The Land Between Collaborative Project
To support communications work, and field-work assessing the ecological values, priorities and conservation needs of focal areas within the Land Between, a land corridor stretching from Georgian Bay to Kingston along the southern edge of the Canadian shield. First of a two-year grant.
Ecology Action Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia $15,000
Reconnecting the Coast
The EAC continues its coastal work with a focus on Nova Scotia's beaches, with local and municipal capacity building and outreach, consolidating gains, and knowledge dissemination of work carried out in the province's salt marshes and coastal wetlands. The EAC documents growing media and public interest in coastal management issues and the perceived need for an integrated province-wide coastal strategy for Nova Scotia.
Environmental Defence, Toronto, Ontario $20,000
Toxic Nation Ontario
The Toxic Nation campaign highlights the interrconnectness of human health with that of the environment and points to potential health risks including cancer, developmental and reproductive damage, respiratory illness, hormone disruption, and damage to the nervous system. Environmental Defence has conducted studies on children and adults from across Canada including 4 Federal politicians, the results of which show the frequent occurrence of a wide variety of chemicals carried in the body. The campaign continues with a similar soon-to-be-published body burden study of Ontario's 3 main political leaders.
Green Budget Coalition, Ottawa, Ontario $5,000
Opportunities for a Greener Canada
The Green Budget Coaltion (GBC) is made up of 21 member-organizations of environmentalists and conservationists who agree priorities for the environment, and present them to MPs, Senators and government policy-makers in advance of the annual Federal Budget. The GBC places particular emphasis on ecological fiscal reform, to promote the redirection of taxation and expenditure programs toward incentives for sustainable development. First of a 3-year grant.
Natural Step, Ottawa, Ontario $10,000
Sustainability: Step by Natural Step
The original extended eLearning course has increased the capacity of The Natural Step to deliver education and training in sustainable operations to a number of key communities and organizations across Canada. The current grant supports the continuing evaluation and improvement of the original 'Step by Natural Step', plus the development of a new one-hour bilingual version dubbed 'Sustainability 101.' Both versions engage participants in how to take environmental, social and economic priorities and integrate them into communities or businesses in a practical way. Second of a 2-year grant.
Nature Conservancy of Canada, Montreal, Quebec $20,000
Two Countries One Forest
2C1Forest is a Canada-U.S. cross-border collaboration of more than 50 conservation organizations, researchers and foundations working to connect and protect key linkages across the Northern Appalachian/Acadian ecoregion through a science-based landscape-scale conservation initiative. This grant will help support a GIS specialist-technician working with local communities and conservation groups to understand and analyse topographical maps, forestry maps, legal surveys, geological and agricultural overlays in order to integrate local needs and local economies into this broad ecoregion concept. First of a 2-year grant.
Nature Conservancy, Quebec Region, Montreal, Quebec $10,000
Adirondack Aquifer and Conservation Plan
Nature Conservancy continues to map the transboundary aquifer of the Chateauguay River basin within which the Covey Hill area is an important groundwater recharge area. The expanding GIS database allows for in-depth habitat analysis, land-use planning, and monitoring of groundwater resources. The watershed is shared by the province of Quebec and the state of New York, both of which have contributed academic researchers, conservationists and government agencies in developing conservation measures and policies to protect regional water quality and supply.
Ontario Nature, Toronto, Ontario $5,000
A Strategic Communications Plan for the Endangered Species and Boreal Campaigns
To promote the need for a strong new Endangered Species Act (ESA), linking this to the need for "conservation first" planning in the boreal forests of Ontario. A rigorous ESA combined with binding commitments to protect the boreal forest from inappropriate, piecemeal industrial development promises to provide a comprehensive framework for safeguarding the boreal forest, wilderness sites, and the endangered species that depend on them. In May 2007 the new Endangered Species Act became law, broadly supported by all major political parties. The new legislation will use a science-based approach for listing species and habitat to be protected while at the same time allowing for socio-economic concerns to be addressed. Ontario is home to approximately 40% of Canada's endangered species.
Ottawa Riverkeeper, Ottawa, Ontario $10,000
River Report
The second River Report will examine the cumulative impacts of chemical and toxic pollutants discharged daily into the Ottawa River in municipal wastewater effluent. In addition, the study will take into account the impacts of sewage spills, bypasses, and overflows following heavy rains, whose combined effects have significant implications for human health and the river's aquatic ecosystem. Report findings and recommendations will promote both individual and community action in Quebec and Ontario to improve the health of the Ottawa River.
Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia $17,000
Building Capacity for Community-Based Nearshore Marine Monitoring in Nova Scotia
A Nearshore Marine Monitoring Toolkit will be developed and put into action around Halifax Harbour, St. Margaret's Bay, and the Bay of Fundy at Annapolis. The Toolkit and its protocols will be made available to other coastal community groups around the province, and elsewhere in Atlantic Canada. In due course, monitoring data will be posted on the Internet via a web-based atlas, and the collated data will be widely shared among community groups and federal, provincial or municipal agencies concerned with near-shore water quality. The project recognizes the critical importance of public participation in local stewardship to meet long-term goals of sustainability.
Sierra Club of Canada Foundation, Ottawa, Ontario $10,000
Expansion of the Climate Action Network Website
An updated, expanded and more interactive website will provide concerned Canadians with a ready resource on climate change, and ideas about what they, as individuals can and should be doing about the changing climate. The expanded website will include a Solutions Database, enabling individuals, companies and institutions to post technologies that are designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, bringing together people looking for solutions with those who can provide them.
Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence Coalition on Sustainability, Moncton, New Brunswick $15,000
Adopting Sustainability Indicators to Improve Estuarine Health
A coalition of 21 community groups from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island will monitor and track several key environmental indicators as a means to improving the management of estuaries in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence region. Each group will post locally collected watershed based data to an on-line regional atlas, to be analysed and interpreted by scientists at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). The long-term goal of the project is to document trends and changes in ecosystems to inform management decisions taken by government and other stakeholders. The project is a collaboration with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network, UNB and the Université de Moncton.
World Wildlife Fund Canada, Toronto, Ontario $25,000
Mackenzie Valley Protected Areas Project
To identify and reserve a network of protected areas in advance of the proposed natural gas pipeline and associated industrial development in the Mackenzie Valley. WWF-Canada is working closely with aboriginal organizations and conservation groups in the Dene, Dehcho, Sahtu and Gwich'in regions of the Mackenzie Valley. Key ecological areas as well as those of cultural significance to the people who live there will be formally protected under the Northwest Territories Protected Areas Strategy (PAS). The PAS provides the framework for a 'Conservation First' land-use planning process. This will result in an interconnected network of large wilderness areas. Early March 2007 the Federal Government announced a formal agreement to protect 5,800 square kilometres in the Northwest Territories. These lands consist of two large peninsulas jutting into the western side of Great Bear Lake, now permanently withdrawn from mining or oil industry development. This area has historical links to the Dene people and is home to woodland caribou, grizzly bears, wolverines and peregrine falcons. Several other sites totalling more than 100,000 square kilometres are in line for protected status under the PAS. Third of a five-year grant.
2006
Arts and Culture
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario $25,000
ArtsAccess Initiative
A multi-year community-based arts education initiative to engage the public in a range of creative activities in four municipalities: Brantford/Six Nations, Kitchener-Waterloo, Thunder Bay and Toronto. The project will create province-wide sustainable links among community groups and organizations, artists and arts institutions, to promote art and civic involvement and an understanding of identities and issues within each community. Second of a three-year grant.
Canadian Arts Presenting Association, Ottawa, Ontario $13,150
To develop a Human Resources policy framework for performing arts presenting organizations. New standards for Human Resources will emphasize the need for professional development learning opportunities to actively address leadership and management challenges confronting industry professionals. A sound Human Resources policy template, available to any performing arts organization, will set standards for maintaining and keeping a knowledgeable and skilled workforce in the sector.
Qaujisaqtiit Society, Ottawa, Ontario $15,000
Communicating Change: Refining Climate Change Terminology
In support of the Inuktitut-Inuinnaqtun-English Glossary of standardized terms and concepts to describe climate change. In the past quarter century or more, Inuit have been witnessing and adapting to environmental changes occurring around them. Accurate, standardized terminology relating to climate change will serve to bridge communication gaps between community members and scientists, and will facilitate participation of Inuit in Northern climate change strategies and initiatives.
Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, Ontario $75,000
Learning Through the Arts
To further development of teaching and learning resources as well as to the partnerships established with the Banff Centre and with the Science Alberta Foundation. More media arts projects will be developed for math and science including units with an Aboriginal focus, available for use free of charge by teaching and learning institutions across Canada. More Aboriginal artists will be recruited and trained, and programming expanded to build on innovative ways for learning already introduced to Aboriginal students in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Second of a two-year grant.
The Canadian Museum of Human Rights, Winnipeg, Manitoba $50,000
In support of the Museum's technological infrastructure. A virtual museum with virtual exhibitions will be available to visitors via the Internet. Online forums, town halls and chat rooms will provide opportunities for exchanging ideas on current and emerging issues concerning human rights in Canada and around the world, to advance understanding and support for human rights. The museum is scheduled to open in 2011. First of a two-year grant.
www.canadianmuseumforhumanrights.com
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario $70,000
Dictionary of Old English
Later in 2006, with the publication of the first eight letters of the Dictionary on the Web, the Dictionary of Old English will be linked electronically with the Oxford English Dictionary. This linkage will enable the display of the history of an English word, from Old English to Modern English. The interface to the Web, to allow distribution of the letters as they are published, is now completed. The Dictionary of Old English will provide a better understanding of the past and future of the English language as it analyses the interplay between language and culture. First of a three-year grant.
Environment
Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario $25,000
Frenchman River Biodiversity Project
The Frenchman River Biodiversity Project is a multi-disciplinary community-based research project involving a broad range of local and provincial partners, including lead partner, the Royal Saskatchewan Museum. In the early stages, participants assessed the condition of the river studying its aquatic biodiversity and the sustainability of social interactions affecting the watershed. The goal of the project is to develop tools and processes by which communities on the river continue to monitor the health of the watershed while promoting good stewardship practices for maintaining a vital level of diversity on the river. The Frenchman River rises in the Cypress Hills, passes through a wide range of habitats and drains southward into the Missouri watershed. Second of a two-year grant.
Canary Research Institute for Mining, Environment and Health, Ottawa, Ontario $18,000
Assisting Communities in Protecting Fish Habitat from Mining Impacts
To promote a community-based eco-system management approach to protecting fish habitat, in a coordinated response to the impacts of mining in provincial and territorial jurisdictions including the Yukon, BC, Ontario, Quebec and Labrador. Building on previous research, the project will provide a qualitative analysis of the interaction between mineral development practices and fisheries policy in Canada with emphasis on freshwater streams and lakes. First of a two-year grant.
Catfish Creek Conservation Authority, Aylmer, Ontario $10,000
Watershed Management Plan
The new Watershed Management Plan, due for release May 2007 will replace the existing Plan dating from the early 1980's. It will provide a framework and guidelines for the integrated management of water quality and quantity, fisheries, forests, wildlife protection and public education. The Authority works locally with the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment Canada, Carolinian Canada, municipalities in the watershed, and neighbouring Conservation Authorities whose watersheds drain into Lake Erie. Well managed watersheds actively contribute to the restoration and protection of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem. Largely due to urbanization, agricultural practices and ecosystem impairments Lake Erie is exposed to greater stress than any of the other Great Lakes.
Ecology Action Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia $15,000
Reconnecting the Coast Initiative
The project will continue to optimize coastal protection and coastal management practices around Nova Scotia, focusing through 2007 on an integrated approach to greater protection for beaches and other coastal systems. Local and municipal capacity-building together with community outreach will help consolidate gains and disseminate knowledge from past work. Second of a three-year grant.
New Brunswick Museum, Saint John, New Brunswick $16,000
Counting our Capital
The New Brunswick Museum will continue to build a baseline of biological inventories from research conducted in the Hampton and Nerepis Marshes, and in the lower Saint John estuary system. Baseline inventories allow scientists to monitor biodiversity change over time while mentor-supervised students gain expertise in systematics. The Museum's long-term goal is to establish a Centre for Biodiversity and Systematics Research at the museum. Third of a three-year grant.
Pollution Probe, Toronto, Ontario $20,000
Great Lakes Futures Roundtable Initiative
The Great Lakes Futures Roundtable is a bi-national collaborative to discuss regional sustainable development within the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence watersheds, part of Pollution Probe's long-term strategy for A New Approach to Water Management.
Sierra Club of Canada, Toronto, Ontario $10,000
Ozone Annex Project
To promote maximum public health benefit by working to attain the terms of the Ozone Annex to reduce emissions of transboundary smog-causing nitrogen oxides to 39 kilotonnes by 2007, part of the Canada-United States Air Quality Agreement.
Sierra Legal Defence Fund, Toronto, Ontario $35,000
Creating Environmentally Sustainable Communities
This scan of 20 key municipalities will provide a summary of the most innovative and effective by-laws, policies, legal strategies and communications regarding environmentally progressive practices enacted to date across Canada. It will also provide a guide to implementation, serving as a resource to other municipalities and citizens interested in introducing similar mechanisms for environmental protection in their own communities. Results of the survey will be broadly disseminated through print and electronic media, and will be available to download from the websites of both the Sierra Legal Defence Fund and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
Sustainability Network, Toronto, Ontario $10,000
Building the Capacity of Conservation NGOs in Atlantic Canada
Sustainability Network extends its capacity-building services to environmental organizations in Atlantic Canada, taking regional needs and aspirations into consideration. Leadership opportunities and organizational capacity development are offered to NGOs through meetings and workshops. Additional management assistance, knowledge enhancement, news, training and networking opportunities are made available through a special Atlantic edition of the monthly Internet newsletter, Nexus. Second of a two-year grant.
The Natural Step, Ottawa, Ontario $20,000
E-learning Module
Towards the development of an Internet-based e-learning module to provide on-line support to communities across Canada, reinforcing community-wide sustainability initiatives. Communities committed to pioneering sustainability initiatives through the Natural Step are Whistler, BC, Canmore, Alberta, Halifax and Wolfville in Nova Scotia. First of a two-year grant.
Trout Unlimited Canada, Calgary, Alberta $20,000
National Conservation Agenda
The National Conservation Agenda represents a coordinated cross-Canada effort to actively manage the country's freshwater ecosystems and coldwater resources by engaging partners and volunteers at the local level for monitoring water quality and quantity, and restoring local habitat and fish populations. Second of a two-year grant.
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario $5,000
Sustainable Prosperity Project
The Sustainable Prosperity Project seeks to provide a vision for transforming the Canadian economy so that business and consumers are given financial incentives to safeguard the environment. The project will promote green economic reforms at all levels of government in order to achieve tangible environmental improvements in areas such as air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, forestry and green cities.
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario $10,000
Integrated Land-use, Transport and Environment Model
The ILUTE model will cover the Greater Toronto Area and the City of Hamilton to allow careful analysis of land-use, public infrastructure investment, and associated ecological and environmental impacts. It can also be used to examine the urban-rural interface, and impacts of continuing urban growth on adjacent rural areas.
World Wildlife Fund Canada, Toronto, Ontario $25,000
Mackenzie Valley Protected Areas Project
To identify and reserve a network of protected areas in advance of the proposed natural gas pipeline and associated industrial development in the Mackenzie Valley. WWF-Canada is working closely with aboriginal organizations and other conservation groups in the Dehcho, Sahtu and Gwich'in regions of the Mackenzie Valley. Key ecological areas as well as those of cultural significance to the people who live there will be formally protected under the Northwest Territories Protected Areas Strategy (PAS). The PAS provides a framework for a 'Conservation First' land-use planning process, which will result in an interconnected network of large wilderness areas. Second of a five-year grant.
2005
Arts and Culture
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario $25,000
Arts Access Community-based Art Education Initiative
The Arts Access Initiative will offer a technology-enhanced program linking artists, regional galleries, community centres and schools as they work together to deliver participatory community-based arts programming. Together with the Art Gallery of Ontario, museum partners in the Arts Access project are the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, the Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford and the MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie. (*In May 2006 Kitchener-Waterloo replaced Barrie as the fourth participating community.) First of a three-year grant.
Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Ontario $25,000
Towards the conservation, preservation and display of drawings and paintings in the Beaverbrook Collection of War Art: a visual and historical record of the Canadian experience of the two World Wars recorded by appointed war artists. These include Maurice Cullen, James Morrice, Arthur Lismer and Frederick Varley 1914-1918; Edwin Holgate, Charles Comfort, Lawren Harris and Alex Colville 1939-1945. The new War Museum describes how Canada's military history has contributed to the development of Canada as a nation. The new Museum opened May 8, 2005. Second year of a $50,000 grant.
London Regional Children's Museum, London, Ontario $10,000
Science in your world: Waste Diversion Exhibit
To support the design, fabrication, maintenance and program development of the updated waste diversion exhibit. The Museum will work closely with the Waste Diversion Unit of the City of London which will contribute research capacity and expertise during the re-design of the exhibit.
Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, Ontario $75,000
Learning through the Arts (LTTA)
Learning through the Arts will build on its partnership with the Banff New Media Institute and the Science Alberta Foundation to develop new learning resources for science and mathematics. Drawing on traditional art forms LTTA will also expand teaching and learning resources for Aboriginal students, artists, artist-mentors and teachers, accessible via the Internet to Aboriginal communities across Canada.
St. Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia $10,000
To compile the repository of audio tapes and film footage collected during the filming of Diet of Souls in which Inuit elders describe past and present hunting practices and their relationship to the fish, animals and the land. Audio-visual materials will be translated and made available in both Inuktitut and English, fully indexed and correlated.
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario $70,000
Dictionary of Old English
More than half the Dictionary has now been written, and the eighth letter of twenty-two will be published in 2006. The project is currently developing an interface to the Web to allow Web distribution of the letters as they are published. For English-language speakers and scholars, the Dictionary of Old English will serve as a fundamental research tool on the English language and on language change in general.
Environment
Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario $7,500
Lichens as air quality indicators for Ontario
Collaborating with Environment Canada's Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network and the Ontario Ministry for the Environment this research examines the incidence of certain lichen species in relation to elevated levels of sulphur dioxide. Findings will determine whether air quality monitoring devices are appropriately located across the province to give accurate readings of sulphur dioxide.
Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, Ottawa, Ontario $15,000
A Plan for the Land: Cumulative Effects Program
CARC has brought together northern communities, universities, and scientists to develop predictive modeling for assessing cumulative effects of existing and proposed industrial developments in the North. Working directly with the communities concerned, Plan for the Land provides an understanding of how the social, cultural, economic and ecological "footprints" of development build up over time and impact the North. Plan for the Land provides tools for informed decision-making and a common language to facilitate consultations. Second year of a two-year grant.
Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario $25,000
Frenchman River Biodiversity Project
The Frenchman River Biodiversity Project is a multi-disciplinary, community-based research project which began in 2003, modelled on the CMN's Rideau River Biodiversity Project. The Royal Saskatchewan Museum is a leading partner on this project, with a wide range of participating Saskatchewan-based partners. The project will assess the condition of the river and the sustainability of local activities by studying the aquatic biodiversity of the river and social interactions affecting the watershed. The purpose of the project is to develop tools and processes by which communities on the river can monitor the health of the watershed and promote good stewardship practices for maintaining a vital level of biodiversity in the river. The Frenchman River passes through a wide range of habitats and drains southward into the Missouri watershed. First year of a two-year grant.
Conservation Council of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick $10,000
Four Decades of Metal Contamination in northern New Brunswick
Northern New Brunswick (including the Bay of Chaleur) is a region heavily contaminated by toxic metals including mercury, lead and arsenic. These contaminants pose immediate and long-term threats to the health of the region's human population, wildlife, marine and terrestrial systems. The project addresses the critical need to increase community awareness of health impacts and the corresponding need for clean-up and remediation, thereby tackling the legacy of four decades of metal contamination in the region. Second of a two-year grant.
Couchiching Conservancy, Orillia, Ontario $10,000
The Land Between Collaborative
To document and communicate the distinctive values associated with the land corridor stretching along the southern edge of the Canadian Shield, from Georgian Bay to Kingston. These lands form the most significant ecological transition zone in Ontario based on geology, elevation, and climate. Priority areas and themes selected from the first year landscape analysis will provide a framework for more detailed work in subsequent years.
Ecology Action Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia $15,000
Reconnecting the Coast
Through research, education and action the project will promote the need for: greater intergovernmental cooperation in enforcing existing coastal protection and implementation of new regulations; more integrated water and watershed management; and more coordinated land-use and coastal-zone planning. The project also seeks to broaden greater community and private sector participation in these issues. First of a three-year grant.
Environmental Defence Canada, Toronto, Ontario $20,000
Securing the Southern Ontario Greenbelt
In February 2005, the Ontario Government committed to establishing a Greenbelt from the Niagara River to Rice Lake. EDC will promote inclusion of broader natural systems and agricultural lands outside the Greenbelt into the provincial growth management plan, Places to Grow. These areas include Carolinian Canada, the Great Lakes Heritage Coast, and the Algonquin to Adirondack corridor. As the Greenbelt is gradually implemented, EDC will continue to encourage progressive standards for urban and rural planning.
Green Budget Coalition, Ottawa, Ontario $5,000
To provide a range of environmental policy options to federal budget planners who, in the February 2005 Budget gave due regard to ecological fiscal reform and made many new allocations to green measures.
Hamilton Naturalists' Club, Hamilton, Ontario $20,000
A Systems Approach to Natural Heritage in Hamilton
To build a comprehensive GIS-based natural heritage data management system for land-use planning decisions, restoration projects, and the protection and linking of natural areas. Data collected is used by a number of agencies including the City of Hamilton as it develops its Official Plan and Smart Growth Strategy, and local Conservation Authorities. Second year of a two-year grant.
New Brunswick Museum, Saint John, New Brunswick $16,000
Counting our Capital: Using biodiversity inventories of critical habitats to introduce students to systematics research
This mentorship program trains university undergraduates in systematics research for the purpose of monitoring ecosystem health and biodiversity change at a regional level. These funds will help build on field programs and biological inventory work of the previous year. When fully analysed, data collected should provide a valuable base-line for monitoring the impact of on-going shore-line development in the Kennebecasis Estuary.
Nova Scotia Nature Trust, Halifax, Nova Scotia $10,000
Conservation without Borders: A project to facilitate Cross-border Land Conservation
To facilitate cross-border gifts of conservation lands by addressing potential legal and tax implications. The "tool-kit" will serve as a guide to landowners in making gifts of conservation lands.
Québec Society for Wetland Conservation, Québec City, Québec $10,000
Building a Global Information System (GIS) for Nature Reserves along the St. Lawrence River and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
The Québec Society for Wetland Conservation protects a network of significant wetlands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and its saltwater estuaries, as well as in freshwater estuaries and tributary rivers along the St. Lawrence River. High biodiversity values are demonstrated in these marshes, swamps, and peatlands. The QSWC will build a GIS data management system comprised of data research, field inventories of species and habitats, and mapping.
Sustainability Network, Toronto, Ontario $15,000
Building the Capacity of Conservation NGOs in Atlantic Canada
The Sustainability Network will extend its capacity-building services to environmental organizations in Atlantic Canada. These include opportunities for training, networking, management assistance and knowledge enhancement for strengthening environmental non-profits. First year of a $ 25,000 grant.
Trout Unlimited Canada, Calgary, Alberta $10,000
Development of a National Conservation Agenda
Towards the development of a National Conservation Agenda to address substantive issues facing Canada's freshwater ecosystems, watersheds and coldwater fisheries. The National Conservation Agenda will provide a framework for protecting, monitoring and managing freshwater resources across Canada, and practical tools to solve issues at the local level. Year one of a two-year $30,000 grant.
University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario $269,000
Salamander Chair in Environmental Engineering
The Chair in Environmental Engineering brings together the departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering with Chemical and Biochemical Engineering to examine and develop advanced water, soil and waste treatment technologies. The Chair is now fully endowed.
www.eng.uwo. ca/compendium/faculty/nakhla.htm
Upper Thames River Conservation Authority, London, Ontario $20,000
Clean Water Project
This project addresses rural water quality by carrying out several core management measures including: the naturalizing of riparian areas to reduce runoff and bank erosion, restricting river access to livestock, removing barriers to migrating fish, creating vegetated windbreak buffers along the watercourse, and providing outreach to landowners to reduce farmland nutrient loadings. The Thames River is one of the largest sources of nutrients (phosphates and nitrates) found in Lake Erie.
World Wildlife Fund Canada, Toronto, Ontario $25,000
Mackenzie Valley Protected Areas Project
To identify and reserve a network of protected areas in advance of the proposed natural gas pipeline and associated industrial development in the Mackenzie Valley. Key ecological areas as well as those of cultural significance to the people who live there will be formally protected under the Northwest Territories Protected Areas Strategy (PAS). The PAS provides a framework for a "Conservation First" land-use planning process which will result in an interconnected network of large wilderness areas. First year of a five-year grant.