From the left: Shauna Wanamaker, Dalea Chenier and Manon Doran were busy providing information about Butterfly Way Prescott Russell during the 2024 Living Locally event held on Jan. 20 at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic High School in Russell. Thompson Goddard Photo

RUSSELL – The Butterflyway Project is designed to grow habitats for Canadian insects, including butterflies and bees across Canada and is part of the David Suzuki Foundation. The Butterfly Way Project of Prescott-Russell and SD&G is a project of Eco East in collaboration with a growing team under Shauna Wanamaker and Christina Enright.

“Our Mission is to lead the community towards a sustainable future for all, through volunteer action, community partnerships and education by inspiring a love and respect of nature.” explained Eco East board member Lisa Deacon. Wanamaker and Enright are two of 1,450 Butterfly Rangers trained across Canada by The Butterflyway Project to work with people in their communities to establish native gardens as well as educate people about the loss and restoration of native habitats.

The Butterfly Way Project of Prescott-Russell and SD&G have several goals according to Wanamaker. Growing native plants as well as collecting and packaging native seeds to provide to people are important. But educating “the public on the importance of native plants and their impact on the environment” are their primary goal, explained Wanamaker.

Wanamaker explained her interest in this field began after meeting SD&G Butterfly Ranger Christine Enright at a presentation on Monarch butterflies a few years ago.  In the summer of 2022, Wanamaker reached out to Enright to provide information and assistance to volunteers trying to collect Monarch caterpillars from some ditches which the municipality hadn’t yet cut.  This led to Wanamaker becoming a Butterfly Ranger for Embrun and Russell in 2023, and in the fall of that year Eco East adopted them as one of their projects “so that we can work together to heal our land”.

Currently, Wanamaker and Enright have been working with friends to grow native plants to share with the community. In 2023, 1,500 native seedlings were grown and shared, leading to the creation of 23 new native gardens locally.  We have also shared over 800 packages of native seeds with our communities.  “We all love sharing plants and seeds with others” said Wanamaker, continuing how this “gives up hope that we can actually heal our earth if we work at it collectively.”  She noted the project is growing as more people are beginning to realize the “seriousness of our environmental decline,” mentioning how sharing information at local flea markets, schools and events is an important part of the work.

Native plants are designed specifically for the Canadian climate, with Wanamaker mentioning how these plants not only provide a habitat for insects but also have deep roots which prevent soil erosion, assist in cleaning and controlling ground water, help clean the air and are the basis of our food chain.  She explained how host plants are the key and provide food and shelter for caterpillars, with the caterpillars providing food for birds and other species. Invasive plants, pesticides, ditch cutting, and genetically modified plant cultivation has led to a drastic decrease in native plants and both the insect populations and the birds which depend on the insects for food.

“Our biggest problem is getting our message across.  Environmental causes often only focus on trees,” commented Wannamaker, mentioning the focus of how to heal the land must include the rebuilding of habitats involving native plants so that wildlife can thrive and survive.  It is vital that our community understand the importance of native plants so they can make a choice to buy them instead of cultivated and genetically modified plants.

Many of the costs in 2023 associated with the launch of the Embrun-Russell project were covered by Wanamaker.  However, in 2024, she noted how people in the project have donated soil and those participating in the garden project will be providing funds to off-set costs.  Fortunately, many local businesses including Pick, Plant and Prune in Russell, Home Hardware in Embrun and local companies like Iron Forge, CMS Pottery, Hidden Daisy Fine Art Studio and Trinkets & Thyme have donated planting materials or raffle items to raise funds.

More information on The Butterfly Way Project of Prescott-Russell and SD&G are available on their Facebook page and for Eco East at www.ecoeastont.ca.

 

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