• Beth McLaughlin Environmental Journalism Award

    Call for Nominations

    Beth McLaughlin Environmental Journalism Award

    Background:
    This award for outstanding reporting will be presented annually, beginning in 2016, to recognize and promote in-depth and thoughtful coverage of environmental issues in New Brunswick.
  • Can I get a whoop whoop

    Congratulations to this year’s Environmental Leadership Award winners!

    I want to add a special shout out to Meagan Betts, who has taken an active role in the Youth Environmental Action Network, acting as the chair and representative for Fredericton High School Green Team and now EcoAction. I have seen Meagan in action and feel this is a much deserved honour.

    Government text here

    Winners of Environmental Leadership Awards

    FREDERICTON (GNB) – A presentation was held today in Fredericton to honour the 2012 Environmental Leadership Award recipients and poster contest winners.

    “Through this initiative, we are able to recognize these achievements as we highlight the importance of protecting our environment,” said Environment and Local Government Minister Bruce Fitch. “Sharing these initiatives will encourage further environmental stewardship and will have a positive impact on our province. Others can be motivated to follow in the footsteps of those recognized today.”

    This year's recipients are:

    ●    Individual Youth – Meagan Betts, Youth Environmental Leader;
    ●    Youth Group – The Sacred Garden Team, Devon Middle School;
    ●    Individual – Pamela Fowler, Municipal Nature Park;
    ●    Business – Rhoda Welshman, ReAction Events;
    ●    Communities, Groups and Organizations – Tobique River Team, Tobique First Nation Community Clean-Up; and
    ●    Lifetime Achievement – Ralph Simpson, Youth Mentorship.

    Fitch also announced the winners of the poster contest who illustrated an environmental theme. The winners are:

    ●    Sophie Landry, Save the World; and
    ●    Natasha Barna, Je suis ta Terre.

    The awards are presented annually to individuals, communities, groups and businesses that demonstrate exceptional leadership in the enhancement and protection of the environment. A panel of independent judges selected the recipients.

    Information about the awards is available online.

    2012 Environmental Leadership Award recipients

    Individual Youth


    Meagan Betts – Fredericton

    Youth Environmental Leader: A former student of Fredericton High School, Betts dedicated much of her time to enhancing environmental awareness at her school and in her community. She led the school Environmental Club and introduced such ideas as Motorless Mondays, vermiculture composting and a reduced car prom. Outside of school, Meagan chaired the Youth Environmental Action Network.

    Youth Group

    Devon Middle School – Fredericton

    The Sacred Garden Team: In 2011, the Sacred Garden Project was established at Devon Middle School. While promoting a sustainable organic garden, this Outdoor Classroom aims to educate the students and the community about the importance of traditional First Nations' medicines. As students move through the process of germinating the seeds, maintaining and tracking their growth, and transplanting their seeds into the Garden Classroom, they also discover, through traditional teachings, a connection to the Earth, agriculture, history and sustainability.

    Individual


    Pamela Fowler – Riverview

    Municipal Nature Park: An environmental science teacher at Riverview High School, Fowler is committed to teaching her students about the environment while using applied approaches to help them identify with the high school curriculum. She initiated the Mill Creek Project, which had her class propose a nature park in Riverview that would connect to the Fundy Biosphere Reserve. Her students surveyed the proposed park, completed water testing and botanical surveys, and presented their findings to the town council.

    Business


    Rhoda Welshman – Saint John

    ReAction Events: Concerned for the environment and seeing a niche that needed to be filled, Welsman launched a business, ReAction Events. Focusing on environmentally-friendly parties and events, she aims to reduce the use of plastic products while providing unique, personalized party supplies for her clients. Welshman offers eco-friendly products that are handcrafted and sustainable. Not only are the decorations, table ware, and treat bags environmentally friendly but her parties promote both creative and physical activity.  

    Community, Group and Organization

    Tobique Riverbank Team – Tobique First Nation

    Community Clean-up: The Riverbank Team of Tobique First Nation was formed after a need for riverbank stabilization work was identified. Following this project, the team started to look at the community as a whole, and when an opportunity to work with the Valley Solid Waste Commission arose, they led the way. Working together, the team and the commission cleaned up illegal dumpsites in the community, posted signs discouraging dumping and cleaned streams and banks along the river. This spurred the community to promote a clean environment and to hold community clean-up days as well as the clean-up of the demolition site of an old school.

    Lifetime Achievement


    Ralph Simpson – Fredericton

    Youth Mentorship: An ecologist and forest pathologist, Ralph Simpson is committed to environmental restoration and youth mentorship. For more than 20 years he has volunteered to develop, obtain funding, lead and execute environmental projects. He has been involved with The Fredericton Backyard Composters, the Fredericton Area Watersheds Association, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, and in 2006 he was the recipient of the Canadian Environment Awards Community Award. Simpson also worked on the Bur Oak Project, where he trained and worked with youth to restore at-risk native species of trees, and the Children's International Summer Villages, where he was an environmental mentor, leading annual trail and stream clean-ups.

    http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/elg/news/news_release.2012.11.1040.html

  • Media Advisory: Fundy Baykeeper honoured tonight by Atlantic Salmon Federation


    Media Advisory: Fundy Baykeeper honoured tonight by Atlantic Salmon Federation


    Wednesday, May 17, 2017 — Fredericton

    Attention news editors: The Fundy Baykeeper, a program of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, receives the Atlantic Salmon Federation’s top national honour, the T.B. “Happy” Fraser Award, during a gala ceremony at the Algonquin Hotel in St. Andrews tonight. Matt Abbott, the Fundy Baykeeper since 2011, accepts the award.

    The Fundy Baykeeper, the flagship program of the Conservation Council’s Marine Conservation Program, was selected for its longstanding commitment to the ecosystems of the Bay of Fundy, where wild Atlantic Salmon are on life support, and its decades-long work to protect New Brunswick’s coastal environments from pollution.

    “Our coastlines in New Brunswick are true treasures,” says Abbott. “From the sprawling tides of the Bay of Fundy, to the warm ocean waters at Parlee Beach, our work to protect these spaces is all about consistency, dedication, and the commitment of our team to achieve results over time.”

    Matt Abbott is available for media interviews upon request.

    To arrange an interview, contact:

    Jon MacNeill
    Communications Director
    506-458-8747 (w) | 506-238-3539 (m)
    jon.macneill@conservationcouncil.ca
  • NB Citizen and Group Receive Environmental Awards

    New Brunswick Citizens and Groups

    Presented with Environmental Awards

    This past weekend two environmental awards were presented to New Brunswick citizens and environmental groups in honour of exemplary service to their community. The prizes, awarded by the New Brunswick Environmental Network (NBEN), recognize significant efforts by citizens and citizen groups toward the protection and restoration of New Brunswick’s environment.

    Community Forests International, an organization based in Sackville with a mandate to promote community-based ecological forestry both in New Brunswick and internationally, was honoured with the the Gaia Award. According to Mary Ann Coleman, Executive Director of the NBEN, “Community Forests International received the award for their determined effort to maintain stewardship of Whaelghinbran Farm and to develop an on-site training centre to inspire youth and future generations to work towards achieving the health and diversity found within the Acadian Forest Eco-region prior to European settlement.” Recently, Community Forests International purchased Whaelghinbran Farm a unique 650-acre farm and Acadian forest woodlot in the Sussex area on which they will be farming organically and practicing ecological forestry. The multi-stakeholder community-based ecological forestry practiced at Whaelghinbran will be an example of alternative approaches to woodland management in the region.

    The Phoenix Award, dedicated to those who have been “through the fire,” was presented to Mark D'Arcy, of the Friends of the UNB Woodlot. Coleman stated, “Mark received this award in recognition of his bold leadership, creative strategies, and tireless devotion to raising public awareness about and mounting resistance to shale gas exploration.”

    The awards were presented during the Annual General Assembly of the New Brunswick Environmental Network, which was held in Sackville on October 13, 2012. During the assembly, member groups of the NBEN participanted in various workshops, discussions, and field trips in the area. As well, participants enjoyed the Soup Fest fundraiser hosted by local Sackville community groups in which Sackville-area potters donated bowls that Soup Fest participants took home as keepsakes. Soup Fest participants also enjoyed the music of two Sackville musicians, Michael Duguay and Steve Haley.

  • Nominate your group for the 2011 Environmental Leadership Awards

    Nominations are now open for the 2011 Environmental Leadership Awards. The deadline is Friday, May 27.

    There are six award categories this year:

    ●    Lifetime achievement: any individual with at least 15 years of outstanding contribution to protecting the environment;
    ●    Individual youth: any youth younger than 18;
    ●    Youth group: any group, class or school whose members are younger than 18;
    ●    Individual: any individual 18 or older;
    ●    Business: any private-sector enterprise; and
    ●    Communities, groups and organizations: any city, town, village, local service district, not-for-profit organization or group whose members are 18 or older.

    For more info.

 © 2018 NBEN / RENB