Vision

Starting with the location of this project, a large chunk of space right out front of our west entrance, we hope that the wildlife garden will be emblematic of CCI’s commitment to preserving natural heritage. Environment Club students will be taking care of it, documenting growth, monitoring wildlife and insect presence, and sharing their findings with the school in continuous, seasonal social media updates. Through this project, students will play an active role in land stewardship while encouraging others to do the same. Science and Green Industries classes will be able to study and take part in the maintenance of the garden, Art classes will be able to draw and paint its varied specimens, and all can read and write nearby using our outdoor classroom equipment. Students and visitors to the school will be able to engage with nature close-up, the goal being to build appreciation and respect for our precious native wildlife and to encourage additional conservation efforts. If we can establish dense naturalization in this area, we will then be able to use this space as a nursery to enrich other areas around the school, expanding our role as part of a broader wildlife and pollinator-supporting corridor. As a long-term goal, the Environment Club would also like to establish an annual native plant sale, using seeds and splittings collected from our wildlife garden to further support our native plant species and, by extension, insects that require them for nectar and larval hosts. Proceeds from these sales can then be donated to environmental groups or those invested in sustainable initiatives within our school, as we have done with native tree and rain barrel sales in the past. Through this project, students will be provided with an immediate opportunity to engage with nature in a constructive and nurturing way.

Action

Cobourg Collegiate Institute’s Environment Club has started the construction of a large wildlife garden right at the front of our school. Our first step for the project was to clear the space we would be working in, removing invasive weeds and non-native species of plants. We then activated the soil before planting with some compost, which we purchased and spread throughout the planting area. Staff and students involved with Environment Club shovelled and raked out the delivery of five cubic yards of compost for this project. As a starting point, we have ordered approximately one hundred perennial plants native to Ontario, selected for their benefits to local pollinators and as larval hosts for a range of insects and drought tolerance to suit the site. If we can establish dense naturalization in this area, we will then be able to use this space as a nursery to enrich other areas around the school, expanding our role as part of a broader wildlife and pollinator-supporting corridor.

Reflection & Celebration

The wildlife garden at CCI has only just begun and will be continually developed as a legacy project, meant to be stewarded by generations of students. We hope it will lead to many more opportunities for students to engage with nature; to appreciate and protect the land and wildlife we rely on for survival.