Are you a passionate environmental and cultural heritage enthusiast looking to make a difference? We’re looking for an experienced Prairie Forest Guide app editor to help facilitate ethnobotanical learning for a growing audience.
At Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc., we’re devoted to connecting people with the natural world. We believe in the importance of educating and inspiring people to appreciate and protect the environment. Our Prairie Forest Guide app has become a valuable resource for learning more about the cultural and environmental heritage of the prairies. We are seeking an experienced Prairie Forest Guide editor to help support the growth of this resource.
As the Prairie Forest Guide editor, (contract position) your role will be to curate and create content for the app. You’ll be responsible for researching and creating educational materials, such as facts, images, and stories, that will help bring the cultural and environmental heritage of the prairies to life.
We’re looking for someone with a deep understanding of the cultural and environmental heritage of the prairies, as well as experience facilitating ethnobotanical learning. The ideal candidate for this role will be a creative and organized individual with excellent communications and research skills.
If you’re passionate about preserving the prairie legacy and want to make a difference, then this could be the perfect opportunity for you. Apply today friendsafforestation@gmail.com to join us in our mission to educate and inspire people to appreciate and protect the environment.
pray to God that I remain to be just to the earth under my feet, to my neighbour, and my inner conscience”. Richard St. Barbe Baker
Call to Action!
United Nations Decade on Biodiversity 2011-2020
Baby Deer ~ Fawn
Downy Wwoodpecker Ddryobates pubescens
Pelican Preenning
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and West Swale Wetlands in the fog
“Ask any Canadian kid to name the world’s most endangered ecosystem, and chances are you’ll hear one of the following answers: 1) rainforests; 2) coral reefs; 3) leave me alone.by Dan Kraus” However, the answer, from The International Union for the Conservation of Nature, declared temperate grasslands as the world’s most endangered ecosystem. Bob Peart Saskatchewan in the middle of Canada’s plains, is the home of the temperategrasslands.
What is biodiversity anyways? “Bio” is a prefix meaning life as in plants and animals or flora and fauna. Diversity means a variety. Biodiversity, therefore is a mix of flora and fauna which includes species diversity, ecosystem diversity, and genetic diversity, and their interrelationship with each other as they don’t live in a vacuum.
The Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is unique with riparian afforested mixed woodlands, native aspen bluffs, the Chappell marsh wetlands eco-system, and tall grass prairie ~ an amazing semi-wilderness wildlife habitat rich in biodiversity within the City of Saskatoon. And check out the neighbouring afforestation area formerly named George Genereux Park, and its bio-diversity.
1./ “Biodiversity education begins with learning. Discover the names of the trees, birds, native plants and insects that share” the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation area.1
2./ “Once you know a little more, get out and experiencethe wonders of life’s diversity. Visit a local park. Take an afternoon hike through the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. 2
3./ “Do Something: Finally, get involved! Make changesto your lifestyle which reduce your impact on the planet, or become a ‘citizen scientist’ and join others in contributing to our collective understanding of the world around us!”3 Included in the bibliography are a plethora of sites ~ a literal swarm of activities to get youth involved as a parent or a teacher, or perhaps you are a kid or citizen scientist interested in saving the world around you.
Have you ever hugged a tree?
Hug a tree, and one day you will come to know
that it is not only that
you have hugged the tree
but that the tree also responds,
the tree also hugs you.
– Osho
BIBLIOGRAPHY: What can you do? Here are a few ideas…. Biodiversity. Environment. Government of Saskatchewan.
Children and Youth. Global Youth Biodiversity Network, Youth, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development Goals, Join the Green Wave One School, One Tree, One Gift to Nature! CBD Secretariat Convention on Biological Diversity.
Earth Rangers Saskatchewan initiatives. “Earth Rangers is a registered Canadian charity whose mission is to educate kids about the importance of biodiversity and empower them to protect animals and their habitat. ”
Ecology for Kids. Summer kids Camps. ” Kids will visit scientists, study rocks, fossils, plants, insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and Saskatchewan Endangered Species, and then undertake environmentally friendly projects to help them! ” University of Saskatchewan.
Kids Activities. “Water Watchdog Activities! Water Watchdog Origami Activity. Water Watchdog Word Find. Water Footprint, Water Detective. Play Catchment Detox! ScienceSeekers: Wetlands. Wetlands Activity! Biodiversity: A Data Discovery Game.” Partners FOR the Saskatchewan River Basin.
Resources for Educators “Wetland Centres of Excellence. Project Webfoot. Earn Wetland Hero Status. Duck Detectives.” Ducks Unlimited.
Resources. School Ground Greening resources, Teacher’s Corner, Community greening resources, food growing resources, native plant database. Evergreen Canada.
Robin, Michael. Responsible pet ownership crucial to saving salamander and newt biodiversity “The fate of the world’s richest biodiversity of salamanders and newts is in the hands of pet owners across North America, said Natacha Hogan, an environmental toxicologist specializing in amphibians at the University of Saskatchewan. ” May 30, 2016. University of Saskatchewan.
Sage Grouse Initiative SGI Wildlife Conservation Through Sustainable Ranching. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) initiative.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SW 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance /commemorate your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
I believe in oneness of mankind and of all living things and in the interdependence of each and all. I believe that unless we play fair to the Earth, we cannot exist physically on this planet. Unless we play fair to our neighbour, we cannot exist socially or internationally. Unless we play fair to better self, there is no individuality and no leadership. ~Richard St. Barbe Baker.
“Kind people have been expressing superlatives on my work. But I can assure you that anything which I have been able to achieve has been team work. We have a motto in the Men of the Trees. TWAHAMWE. It is an African word meaning ‘pull together’ and I pass this on to all those concerned with conservation in this country. I would like to call you to silence for a moment with the words of Mathew Arnold:
“Calm soul of all things, make it mine,
To feel amidst the City ‘s jar
That there abides a peace of thine
Men did not make and cannot mar. ”
~Richard St. Barbe Baker
“I believed that God has lent us the Earth. It belongs as much to those who come after us as to us, and it ill behooves us by anything we do or neglect, to deprive them of benefits which are in our power to bequeath.” Richard St. Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 