For over 20 years, Native Prairie Appreciation Week has been observed in Saskatchewan and it is time once again to put native grasslands in the spotlight.
From June 14 to 20, the Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan (SK PCAP) has organized a number of activities focused on promoting the native prairie ecosystem that covers a large portion of the province.
“The purpose is to raise awareness and appreciation of the native prairie ecosystem, which is important to provincial environmental and agricultural sectors,” said SK PCAP manager Carolyn Gaudet.
This year’s events will look a little different from past years, as the SK PCAP has decided to adapt things to fit a more socially distant model amid coronavirus concerns.
Normally, the appreciation week is accompanied by an educational tour of a site somewhere in the province that provides both technical training about the native plants and animals in the area, as well as a family component to enjoy the outdoors.
This year would have featured the Buffalo Pound area outside of Moose Jaw, but the tour is unfortunately cancelled due to ongoing crowd restrictions.
Instead, the SK PCAP is offering a series of webinars throughout the week that will provide the same kind of informational training and education as the tour — including a presentation from nature enthusiasts on why they love the prairies, a discussion with author Candice Savage, and range health assessment and plant identification training.
There will also be a webinar to check-in with the Ministry of Environment’s ongoing landscape mapping project that is working to determine how much native prairie is left in Saskatchewan.
“We tried to make the webinars both technical, so people can get something out of it, but also [interesting] for the general audience so they can learn more,” said Gaudet. “[They] won’t replace being out there and being able to see it themselves, but it's a proxy and we’re doing the best we can under the circumstances.’”
The webinars are free to the community, and organizers are asking that people register on the SK PCAP website in order to take part.
The organization will also be announcing the winners of their youth poster contest from this spring. Submitted photos for a social media contest will be displayed on Facebook from June 15-19, where people can cast their votes using likes on each photo.
Gaudet also encourages people to take some time to just get outside and enjoy the nature of the prairies, as the ultimate way to show appreciation. The SK PCAP will be sharing a list of fun outdoor activities on their website for people to check out, to help plan their next outing.
“I think it’s going to be a good week with lots of things for people to learn, especially about the native prairies,” said Gaudet.
SK PCAP will be sharing lots of information on its Facebook page throughout the week.
