Stewarding a Better Future
Stewarding a Better Future
WRITTEN BY ASH NOBLE, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
Adair Howe has been hiking Nature Trust of New Brunswick properties since 2019. In fact, one of the first things she does when visiting a new region of the province is scope out our list of nature preserves to find new trails to explore. When the opportunity came earlier this summer for her to be a part of the team that makes those trails possible, it was a no-brainer.
“This training has allowed me to understand what goes into trail maintenance and the preservation of a piece of land in general,” says Howe, who participated in our Stewardship Training event at Caughey-Taylor Nature Preserve outside St. Andrews in June.
A demonstration on how to safely remove fallen trees from our Caughey-Taylor Nature Preserve workshop (photo credit: Chelsea Waye, Stewardship Technician)
“In New Brunswick, we have such beautiful, amazing nature often very close to our homes. I think we can capitalize on the wonderful nature we have around us by taking the opportunity to learn about land stewardship and see what techniques are out there.
“It will allow us to better preserve and maintain the nature that’s around us for ourselves and for our neighbours.”
We couldn’t put it better ourselves, Adair! That’s the key idea behind our Stewardship Training events and Ambassador Program. This year we trained 45 New Brunswickers with the skills to care for the land between a total of four events, also visiting our Seymour Woodlands Nature Preserve outside Fredericton, Blueberry Hill Nature Preserve in Grand Bay-Westfield, and Grande-Digue Nature Preserve in Grande-Digue.
The five-hour training days were broken into four sections: field safety, trail maintenance, preserve monitoring, and how to use our preserve management program, Landscape.
These practices all go into the care of our ever-growing network of nature preserves—this year surpassing 13,000 acres across 83 nature preserves. Whether learning how to be safe in the field or the often-complex task of identifying and combatting invasive species, each training day also included its own unique activities, adapted to the preserve where they took place.
All skill levels were welcome and encouraged to attend, whether a seasoned professional looking to refresh their skills or someone just starting to explore the natural world. Our training program offered people of all ages and backgrounds an opportunity to get outside, connect with nature, visit unique and beautiful nature preserves, and have fun with new and old friends.
Stewardship Training Day participant Kirsten Johnsen out and about enjoying nature on her own time (photo submitted by Kirsten Johnsen)
“We had people that had volunteered with us before, people who had never volunteered with us before, and people who had never even heard of us before,” says Aidan Pearce, our Stewardship and Engagement Intern who helped facilitate the training. “It was an awesome mix of different experience levels. People get a lot of satisfaction out of taking care of the land that they share with wildlife, and getting out and working as a steward is a productive and rewarding way to spend your time in nature.”
Kirsten Johnsen, one of the participants at our final training event at Seymour Woodlands Nature Preserve and an avid supporter the Nature Trust—having completed the Invasive Species Removal track of our Ambassador Program, hosting Pride Nature Walks for the last two years, and becoming an official volunteer steward for our Currie Nature Preserve in Sunbury County—appreciated the condensed training offered in this year’s training days.
“There was a wide breadth of subjects that the event covered, and a lot of useful information in a relatively short amount of time, which makes it much easier to schedule,” Johnsen says.
“I think this kind of training and awareness is important in the bigger picture—every piece of land counts toward conserving wilderness, and people can learn simple things that they can do in their own backyard like citizen science, making a bird-friendly garden, or keeping an eye out for invasive species.”
Like Johnsen says, a benefit of the stewardship training is equipping New Brunswickers with tangible skills to help them better manage their own backyards for conservation.
But with the exponential growth of the Nature Trust in recent years—establishing 46 preserves and conserving 6,101 acres (2,469 hectares) of land in the last decade alone—these events also help grow our network of keen volunteers, essential for ensuring the integrity and maintenance of our growing network.
“We are a small organization with over 13,000 acres of protected land that needs stewarding, and we cannot do it ourselves,” says Ben Horst, one of our Stewardship Coordinators. “We rely heavily on the public to volunteer their time to care for these lands, and this kind of training ensures it’s done correctly to protect our preserves for years to come.”
Participants from our Caughey-Taylor Nature Preserve workshop cross a stream using a brand-new rope that they helped to install (photo credit: Chelsea Waye, Stewardship Technician)
“We love taking out new people and having more than just staff with us to do stewardship work, and it’s a great way for volunteers to learn,” adds Payten McCann, one of our Stewardship Technicians who you might recognize from our social accounts. “I would encourage anyone who really wants to volunteer but is still unsure of doing it on their own to come out with us on a field outing where they would get some more maintenance experience with the guidance of our team.”
Whether you missed this year’s training or not, we have three upcoming opportunities to join our team in the field for some restoration tree planting days, taking place Saturday, Sept. 28 at Noloqonokek Nature Preserve in Maugerville, Oct. 3 at James C. Yerxa Nature Preserve near Keswick, and Nov. 2 at Warren Kent Coleman Nature Preserve at Sisson Settlement. Get the full details for all these events, and register, here.
You can also get involved by signing up for our quarterly stewardship volunteer newsletter, where you’ll learn about preserve maintenance needs in your area and how you can be part of the team to help care for these special spaces.
As always, we would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our generous funders, the Wildlife Trust Fund, Wildlife Habitat Canada, and the Environmental Trust Fund for making our Stewardship Training Day workshops a resounding success this year. In the coming years, we will continue to expand these educational opportunities and engage more stewards in preserving our province’s natural heritage. Thank you to our funders for their unwavering commitment to conservation!
Looking ahead to spring 2025, we’re excited to continue the program next year, building on this workshop series with events at the Caughey-Taylor Nature Preserve, Ferris Street Forest and Wetland Nature Preserve in Fredericton, Boars Head Nature Preserve near Saint John, and Beardsley Hill Nature Preserve in Woodstock!
Sign up to become a Nature Trust volunteer or steward!