Nature Canada

Celebrating Canadian Leaders in Nature Conservation

Congratulations! Annie Buckton, Robert Bancroft, Myrna Wood and Nature Manitoba are Nature Canada’s 2011 Conservation Award Winners.

Annie Buckton

These awards honour individuals or groups for making significant contributions to the preservation and protection of Canada’s wildlife and wild spaces.

“In Canada, nature is embedded in our culture, our economy, our national identity. These awards celebrate some of the people who devote their lives to protecting nature in this country,” said Ian Davidson, Nature Canada’s executive director, “I am truly inspired by this year’s award winners. Their passion for preserving Canada’s natural treasures has raised the bar for what can be done to protect Canada’s iconic wildlife and wild spaces for generations to come.”

In their own special way, each award winner has helped nature conservation in Canada.

Annie Buckton, age nine, is the 2011 Charles Labatiuk Volunteer Award winner. Like so many of us, Annie watched and read stories about the horrific oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year. She was moved by the plight of the Piping Plover, a bird she grew to love during summer vacations on Sauble Beach, and one of the many Canadian migratory bird species winging their way into the disaster zone.

Annie found a way to help – she convinced a local art gallery and several area artists to stage an art exhibition to raise funds for clean-up efforts in the Gulf.

Robert Bancroft

This year, Nature Canada is recognizing Robert Bancroft for his lifetime service to nature conservation by presenting him with its preeminent award, the Douglas H. Pimlott Award.

A writer, researcher, and teacher, he has used his expertise in wildlife biology to educate the public about the protection of nature. His influential voice in Nova Scotian conservation, and his actions have had a nationally significant impact in helping to preserve a unique feature on the Canadian landscape, our cherished Acadian Forest.

The recipient of the Nature Canada Volunteer Award, Myrna Wood, shares her fellow award winners’ deep love and respect for nature. Driven by a personal mission to conserve her community’s natural heritage, Wood has worked tirelessly to protect Prince Edward County’s wildlife and habitat.

Myrna Wood

She was instrumental in developing a conservation plan for an Important Bird Area (IBA), and has since been an ardent advocate for the birds that depend on the Prince Edward County South Shore IBA for habitat.

Protecting essential habitat has earned Nature Manitoba the Nature Canada Affiliate Award. This grass-roots organization is making a difference in their part of the country by protecting and preserving some of the province’s most vulnerable natural treasures, and connecting people to nature through its year-round indoor and outdoor programs.

After decades of survey work, Nature Manitoba helped create a prairie preserve in southeastern Manitoba, ensuring the survival of grasses, flowers and wildlife unique to this area. More recently, it has worked closely with provincial conservation partners and the Mosakahiken Cree Nation to protect Little Limestone Lake, by far the largest and most impressive marl lake in the world.

“Like this year’s award winners, Nature Canada is devoted to the cause of protecting wildlife and habitats in Canada, and engaging people to help build a Nature Nation – a place where threatened species are protected, habitat is conserved, and people embrace a culture of conservation in their everyday lives,” said Davidson. “These conservation heroes are examples to us all.”

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