Every day, remarkable people and organizations inspire us through their accomplishments — whether big or small they are always doing their very best to protect nature and wildlife. They do what they can to ensure that nature as we know it today will be there for our children to experience.

Every year, Nature Canada takes the time to recognize our Nature Guardians through our Award and Scholarship Program. This year we had the pleasure to introduce two new awards, the Charles Labatiuk Volunteer Award and the Charles Labatiuk Scholarship Award. Our other awards include the Douglas H. Pimlott Award, the Volunteer Award and the Affiliate Award.

This year’s recipient of the Douglas H. Pimlott Award is Jackie Waddell. Jackie is the Executive Director of Island Nature Trust, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the protection and management of Natural Areas on Prince Edward Island (Canada). Over the last 23 years Jackie has made significant contributions to nature conservation in Prince Edward Island (PEI) and throughout the region.

Through her work with Island Nature Trust, Jackie has reached hundreds of landowners on PEI with information about the importance of private stewardship, helped thousands of school children appreciate the local wildlife and habitat, contributed to endangered species protection in Atlantic Canada, and assisted land trust across the country. Jackie’s tireless contributions have helped make Island Nature Trust the leading conservation group on PEI and she continues to have a significant impact on land protection in the province.

Jackie also recently participated with representatives from Quebec, Prince-Edward-Island, New-Brunswick, Nova-Scotia and New-Foundland and Labrador in the first Important Bird Area (IBA) Caretakers workshop in the Atlantic region supported by Wildlife Habitat Canada, Environment Canada, and TransCanada Corporation. The workshop focused on strengthening the foundation for the IBA program in the Atlantic region with an emphasis on wetland habitats. As part of the workshop attendees participated in the breeding bird census and visited several wetlands and coastal IBAs in Cascumpec Bay and Alberton Harbour.

Our next award is the Affiliate Award. The affiliate award recognizes a partner organization’s conservation efforts and its implementation. This year’s winner is BC Nature. The staff and volunteers of BC Nature are passionate, tireless advocates for nature. Their long term dedication to protect British Columbia’s Important Bird Areas (IBA) has made a difference in some of Canada’s greatest biodiversity hotspots and has served as a model for others to follow.

The Volunteer Award has been bestowed to Tony Dean, a retired public servant who contributed many volunteer hours to assist Nature Canada in matters related to human resource management. The end results allowed Nature Canada to effectively restructure itself and streamline its work.

And last but not least, the Charles Labatiuk Scholarship Award, an award that recognizes outstanding commitment to the preservation of nature. The first recipient of the Charles Labatiuk Scholarship Award is Jeff Howard. Jeff has been involved in conservation projects in his native area since the age of eight. He has compiled several hundred hours of community service and is actively involved in various naturalist groups and programs. As a member of the Brereton Field Naturalist clubs Jeff started the “Get the Lead Out Program” to educate anglers about using lead-free tackle. Other projects spearheaded by Jeff include erecting signs regarding loon conservation and turtle crossings.

At the ripe age of 18 Jeff has already won numerous awards, including the Watershed Hero Award from the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority for the past three years.

Thank you once again to this year’s winners for always being the first to volunteer your time and energy not for the credit but for the results and for choosing to take up the call to protect, engage and advocate on behalf of nature. Congratulations to the dedicated nature lovers who inspire us all through their example.