Gerald and Glenda Young have been recognized as the 2021 Friend of Nature Award winners by the Sydenham Field Naturalists.
Club officials say due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, 2021 was a difficult year for their club to run their programs.
However, club officials say to try and keep some sense of normality, they selected a deserving couple who had completed a 14-acre land retirement as the 2021 Friends of Nature Award recipients.
“These long time SFN members worked with many conservation interests that all assisted with naturalizing of their property,” Sydenham Field Naturalists officials said, in a media release.
“In May of 2017, two ponds were excavated to create 3-acres of new wetland. Both ponds receive surface flow and subsurface (field tile) flow from the farmed fields to the east. The water is held in these ponds and is eventually discharged into Clay Creek. We know that these ponds decant the flowing water to reduce sediment and nutrients into Clay Creek.”
Native grasses were planted as a ground cover and then were planted to trees that are native to the area, club officials say.
“Several acres of the grasses were over seeded with a variety of flowering forbs to establish a tall grass prairie along the east side of the field next to the re-forested section,” club officials said.
“While Gerald and Glenda Young did receive their award, it was not celebrated in 2021 as it should have been due to the protocols in place. On May 7, 2022, the Sydenham Field Naturalist members participated in a tour hosted by the Youngs and were able to view how this area is evolving into a valuable habitat area. The event also afforded the club an opportunity to properly recognize the 2021 Friends of Nature.”
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