Brampton Environmental Alliance
advocacy, low carbon forums, discussions and activities, resource sharing, listen to and learn about other cultural practices.
The Heart Lake Turtle Troopers were busy during the end of July and August as turtle hatchlings dug themselves out from their nests. The Troopers collected many of these newborns and helped them find nearby water where they would be more likely to survive.
The Rooted in Hope project was officially launched on August 19th in the parking lot of Gore Meadows Recreation Centre. Sonia Maset, Program Administrator for the Brampton Bike Hub trained four senior team leads on bike safety and skills training.
Sonia then took them for a short ride to familiarize them with riding on the roads in and around the recreational facility. Another training event with the “uncles” is scheduled for this Saturday August 26th.
This past Monday August 21st, another training event took place. This time it involved students from local high schools who are to be the team leads for tree planting and monitoring along with a teacher from Louise Arbour Secondary School.
The training event was led by Alice Casselman – President, Association of Canadian Educational Resources (ACER), and Dr. Sadia Butt ACER’s Project Manager who is also an ISA certified arborist with over 20 years experience as an urban forest practitioner, researcher, and environmental educator. Together, Alice and Sadia provided a full day of training to the participants about tree monitoring, tree species identification, knowledge of equipment used in tree monitoring and an introduction to online software that identifies how much carbon a tree is storing based on the data collected.
Data collection is a big part of this project and will be used to help inform the City of Brampton’s urban forest management plan.
The Rooted in Hope Project currently involves three Brampton high schools, Harold M. Brathwaite S.S., Heart Lake S.S, Castlebrooke S.S., with Louise Arbour S.S. expected to join this fall.
Hopefully we will see everyone at the tree planting events on September 6th , September 13th, and September 20th. All events run from 3:30-5:00pm @ Gore Meadows Community Centre! These events are free and open to anyone, especially seniors and students from the community. Click here to register and receive more information.
The Rooted in Hope project is designed to engage both youth and seniors in understanding the importance of urban trees by planting young trees and then monitoring the growth and health of both new and mature trees in their neighbourhoods. It will also use cycling, a form of active transportation, as the primary means of travel to tree monitoring sites thereby keeping carbon emissions to a minimum. Rooted in Hope is funded through the Ontario Seniors Community Grant Program.
One of our volunteers has graciously put together a 13 minute video describing the benefits of urban tree canopy as well as the challenges and threats facing Brampton’s urban forest. See the video below.
by Milan Bhutta
July 23rd was another successful P.A.L. event with, Brampton South MP Sonia Sidhu visiting and presenting an award for organizing the event to BEA and to PAL. On the award she said, “Cleanliness and respect for our environment is important, and I commend you for reminding us about it.”
Continue reading “P.A.L.S. Sweep Eldorado Park!”
The Friends and Stewards of Dorchester Park hosted another Graceful Aging Through Connecting with Nature, Plein Air event on July 6th. Eight seniors attended and learned about creating beautiful tree landscapes and structures using oil pastels.
Continue reading “Pastel Landscapes”
The Brampton Environmental Alliance (BEA) is pleased to officially announce, the “Rooted in Hope” project now being delivered by members of the BEA with financial support through the Ontario Seniors Community Grant Program.
Continue reading “BEA Unveils “Rooted in Hope” Project”
Sometimes it hard to imagine what is going to happen next week let alone by 2040. But that’s what the City of Brampton Transportation Planning staff are trying to do as they envision how transportation in this City will evolve by the year 2040. They are launching a study to update the current 2015 Brampton Transportation Master Plan into a new Brampton Mobility Plan that will guide the City’s investment in transportation over the next 17 years. They are looking for your input. Join a virtual public meeting on July 18th at 7:00pm. And you can provide comments in a survey and map that is available until the end of July.
Continue reading “Mobility 2040”Three more GATCWN event are now in the history books as the month of June comes to a close. This past Thursday Sierra Club ran the second of its Gentle Stretching in Nature events, this one at Loafer’s Lake Park in north central Brampton. The event was sparsely attended but those who did were rewarded with a rich experience.
Continue reading “Graceful Aging Through Connecting with Nature June Events Completed”
This past Wednesday Dayle and I participated in the first of two Gentle Stretching in Nature classes hosted by Sierra Club. Earlier predictions were for showers but the morning dawned partly sunny, perfect temperature for a light jacket. We brought along sunscreen and non-DEET, environmentally friendly bug repellant that was appreciated by the participants to keep the mosquitoes at bay.
Continue reading “Gentle Stretching in Nature”
Three more Graceful Aging Through Connecting with Nature events are now in the history books as the project bids farewell to May. The last five events have experienced spectacular dry sunny weather which helps draw the crowds.
Continue reading “Three more events completed as the Graceful Aging Through Connecting with Nature Project bids adieu to May”The Friends and Stewards of Dorchester Park, this past week, hosted two events as part of the Graceful Aging Through Connecting with Nature, GATCWN, Project supported by the Government of Canada and coordinated by the Brampton Environmental Alliance.
“Spring Birding in the Park” was this past Saturday May 20th. Cold and rain, discouraged picture taking but the event was still attended by 7 hardy souls, 5 of whom were seniors. With the aid of “Birding Kits” courtesy of the Brampton Library and Bird Studies Canada. the group learned some useful tips for using binoculars, and learned about the importance of growing native species and removing invasives to support bird habitat. They also learned tips for birding success and where to find additional resources to be even more successful bird-watchers. And, of course they saw a number of bird species including: Downey Woodpecker, American Robin, American Goldfinch, Song Sparrow, Red Eyed Vireo, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackles, Red Winged Blackbird, Blue Jay, Mallard Duck and even a Swanson Thrush. Good spotting!
Participants received prizes to build their own birding kits for future outings.
Did you know that outdoor household cats are responsible for killing an estimated 2.5 Billion birds every year? They are one of the leading causes of bird mortality, according researchers at the University of Guelph. Keep your cats indoors to protect birds from predation!
“Discovering Dorchester Park through Plein Air Painting”, the second GATCWN event of the week, was held on Tuesday evening May 23rd.
Stephanie Schirm, a local artist and art educator, led the class in landscape painting on a beautiful spring evening.
The group had a wonderful time and did a fine job of capturing the beauty of the local park landscape!
Two more GATCWN events are scheduled for this weekend. Discover Native Flowers in Dorchester Park tomorrow from 10-11:30am. Click here to register. On Sunday attend a Park Cleanup event hosted by People Against Littering. Register here. Meet at Creditview Park 10-11:30am