Vision

In the Fall of 2022, The Study brought their grade 10 class to visit our neighbors in Kahnawake. During this visit, one student, Ella Sun, was truly inspired by what she learnt. The Kahnawake Environmental Protection Office (KEPO) presented all the environmental projects being run in the community. Ella felt it was important to share with our entire school community what was being done. She also wanted to be a part of these projects by lending a hand and by supporting them financially.

The Kahnawake community has been an environmental steward since the early 1980s, and Ella was inspired and moved to take action and get involved with their endeavors. She was particularly interested in the Tekakwitha Island restoration project. This island was originally created from the construction of the St-Lawrence seaway. Major restoration of the habitat began in the Fall of 2020. Part of the restoration effort involved removing invasive species and replacing them with native species.

Through our collaboration with Julie Delisle, the environmental projects coordinator in charge of education and outreach, we decided to assist with a second and third expansion of their pollinator garden. The original garden was created in 2015 with a first expansion in 2017.

Pollinators like butterflies, moths, bees, flies, hummingbirds and beetles are vital to a healthy ecosystem with flowering plants. About 75% of all flowering plants depend on pollinators, including many important food crops. Pollinators play a crucial role in plant reproduction, making them fundamental to supporting healthy ecosystems and contributing to biodiversity.

Many pollinator-dependent plants, such as trees and shrubs, contribute to carbon sequestration by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in their biomass and soil. By promoting the growth of these plants through pollination, pollinators indirectly contribute to carbon sequestration, helping to mitigate climate change by reducing the concentration of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.

If we are to reverse the effects of climate change, we need a solution based on the conservation of biodiversity. A pollinator garden helps with this. The importance of pollinators in combating climate change is often overlooked.

Action

The planting for this project will take place on Sunday, June 2nd, 2024. We have provided new soil to enrich the planting grounds. The expansion will cover 101m². The grant from LSF-LST has allowed us to buy approximately 2 yards of new mixed garden soil. There will also be an area of 75m² that had new soil added in the fall. In these two expansions, we will plant 503 seedlings that are being provided by KEPO. Ella has rallied 11 students and 2 adults to participate in the planting day.

Plant species to be planted:
1- Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed)
2- Anaphalis margaritacea (pearly everlasting)
3- Agastache Foeniculum (giant hyssop)
4- Asclepias syriaca (Common milkweed)
5- Chamerion angustifolium (fireweed)
6- Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (mountain mint)
7- Prunus virginiana (Chokeberry)
8- Echinacea purpurea

Reflection & Celebration

Ella has had this collaboration between the Study and KEPO at heart since the spring of 2023. When she learnt about LSF and the possibility of a grant for a climate action project, Ella made sure to attend the youth forum. Collaboration and communication can sometimes take time, and we also needed to wait for favourable weather. We are very excited to plant this expansion of the pollinator garden and look forward to the impact that such expansion will have on our environment, the stability of our ecosystem, and helping fight climate change.

What makes this project most interesting to us is the collaboration between our two communities. We expect a lot of learning to happen for our students as we know that the Kahnawake leaders have extensive knowledge about native plants and maintaining harmony with our environment. It is through conversations and teachings that we can move forwards toward a greener future.