When Alberta Ecotrust's Grant Review Committee met in Calgary in late November to consider the Foundation's fall slate of environmental projects, there were 17 projects on the table and $200,000 of available funding. By the end of the day, 12 of the projects - including five focused on southern Alberta - had been awarded funding to help protect and enhance Alberta's world-class natural heritage.
"Typically we see our grants spread throughout the province, but this time it made sense that the attention was on the south," said Jayme Nelson, Program Coordinator for the Foundation. "In environmental circles, Alberta's Land Use Framework is a hot topic right now, and the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan, as part of the Framework, is very much in play."
Indeed, raising awareness among residents of the South Saskatchewan Basin about the role they can play in government consultations about the Regional Plan were at the heart of three of projects. Proposed respectively by the Environmental Law Centre, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (Southern Alberta Chapter), and the Water Conservation Trust of Canada, the projects totalled nearly $71,000 in grants.
Other Ecotrust grants will support a variety of projects that range from helping ranchers around Pincher Creek monitor and manage the increasing number of carnivores using their property to a touring theatre production that will help students understand how their consumer choices can help or harm the planet.
As Alberta Ecotrust Executive Director Pat Letizia reported, "It is always great to see the diversity of compelling activities in Alberta that strive to protect or improve the environment, and rewarding to see our industry and nonprofit partners decide together to contribute funds to those projects. Whether it is through education, hands-on community activities or important policy initiatives, it reassures me that Albertans are in good hands with our hard working environmental groups."
For a listing of all the grants and projects, visit our grants results page.
