January 28, 2025: The Global Foundation for Social Harmony & Sustainable Development (GFoundation) has launched a new GF Miquelon Watershed Stewardship Committee to provide for oversight of about 120,000 acres (48,500 hectares) of globally significant wetlands that lie within the southern portion of the UN-designated Beaver Hills Biosphere east of Edmonton, Canada.
A two-year consultation process involving landowners from the region, with representatives from key conservation, indigenous and watershed organisations, municipal counties, Alberta Parks, as well as business culminated in the first meeting of the committee’s Working Group last week.
Interim Chair of the committee, Noel St Jean, said “We want to design and implement ‘on-the-ground’ environmental activities to promote, protect or restore fairly extensive tracts of rural land within the Battle River or North Saskatchewan River watersheds, an area that spans four rural municipalities.” He added that the group will organise a tree planting in the Spring, followed in the Fall by the delivery of an information package to landowners and residents.
GFoundation Executive Director Lucien Royer says the new self- directed group will take its place amongst other non-profit watershed stewardship groups in Alberta that are taking community-level actions to safeguard water sources. He said the formation of the Committee extends GF’s current oversight of wetlands from 15,000 to 120,000 acres.
The GF consultation process involved the Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society (otherwise known as Cows And Fish), Ducks Unlimited, Battle River and North Saskatchewan River Alliances, Beaver County, Camrose County, Indigenous Knowledge & Wisdom Centre, Miquelon Lake Provincial Park, Classic Gardens (Sherwood Park), along with numerous land owners.
For information about the consultation: gf@gfoundation.ca.