Pictured from left: Councillor Anthony Ceccacci, Mayor Darrin Canniff, LTVCA CAO Mark Peacock, LTVCA Chair Trevor Thompson, Randall Van Wagner, Julie MacDonald – Ridge Landfill Community Trust.
Chatham-Kent – On April 22, 1970, Americans marched and demonstrated in the streets for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive rallies across the US. It was estimated that 20 million people participated in that first Earth Day.
This year, we are celebrating Earth Day at a newly restored property in South Kent. In 2020, the Ridge Landfill Community Trust donated $1 million dollars to the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority (LTVCA) for tree planting, prairie and wetland restoration in the South Kent region. To date, over $152,000 has been spent, and matched by other partners like Forests Ontario, Ducks Unlimited Canada and OPG. “We are pleased to provide this contribution to the restoration of natural habitat in South-Kent and equally pleased that this has led to matching donations,” – says Julie MacDonald, Ridge Landfill Community Trust.
This generous donation has resulted in over 66 acres of land being retired and restored back to nature, with over 28,000 trees planted, 10 acres of prairie planted and over 14 newly excavated wetlands created. These new features will benefit citizens in the form of carbon sequestration, improved water quality, and flood protection to name but a few. Our shared watershed is home to many unique species found nowhere else in Canada. Eastern Fox Snake is a Species at Risk that will certainly move into these new restoration sites as well as several types of turtles, amphibians and a myriad of beneficial pollinator species.
Mayor Darrin Canniff expresses – “The environment is everyone’s responsibility. We need the combined efforts of all of these partners to take our knowledge, combine it with the financial resources and the personal commitment to ensure that we take meaningful action to preserve, protect and restore our part of the planet. Chatham-Kent is proud to be part of this initiative.”
Many other Earth Day events are taking place throughout Chatham-Kent. Private businesses like Red Barn Brewery are partnering on a new project that will showcase our unique Carolinian species.
Randall Van Wagner – Manager of Conservation Lands and Services at LTVCA, would like to thank Ridge Landfill Trust for their continued support and states – “By leveraging other partners, these dollars will go a long way by creating more habitat”.
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For more information, contact:
Randall Van Wagner
Manager of Conservation Lands and Services, LTVCA