It is with great pleasure that I get to announce the launch of The Piper Creek Restoration Agriculture Project! ReThink Red Deer and supporting organizations have secured funds from Environment Canadas Environmental Damages fund to restore a roughly 25-acre section of Piper Creek immediately south of the City of Red Deer Landfill. Over the course of five years, the “Piper Creek Restoration Agriculture Project” will repair and improve the historical impacts on an important riparian and agricultural area in the Red Deer River watershed by regenerating and enhancing Red Deerians understanding of, and relationship with, the natural world. “This project approaches the restoration of an important ecology and historical site in an integrated way. The neighbouring land uses - landfill and industrial park - have direct impact on the ecosystem health of the project site and we can work together to manage these uses in a sustainable way.”, says Kathy Parsons, President of ReThink Red Deer. Project partner Cows and Fish (Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society) will complete three “Riparian Health Inventories” (RHI) over the course of the five-year project to collect comprehensive information about the structure and function of the vegetation, soil, and hydrology within the project area. According to Cows & Fish Range and Riparian Specialist, Kathryn Hull, “By repeating the riparian health inventory in years three and five we will have a means to monitor the level of impact of the restoration efforts along Piper Creek.” This includes photographic monitoring to capture visual changes to riparian parameters such as reduced invasive weed cover and improved native tree and shrub cover. Comprehensive pre- and post-monitoring is a key part of understanding the effectiveness of proposed restoration and riparian management plans. Among the project partners are The Red Deer River Watershed Alliance, The Red Deer River Naturalists, The Waskasoo Environmental Education Society, Alberta Food Matters, the Canadian Association for Rainwater Management - Prairie Chapter, Red Deer County, and The City of Red Deer as landowner holding observer status. On October 16 & 17, the project Steering Committee will host its first set of Field Days to share the initial results of the first RHI conducted on September 3 of this year, deliver an invasive weed management workshop, and draft the riparian restoration plan for the site. The riparian restoration plan will then be used in a spring (2015) set of Field Days to inform a “restoration agriculture” plan for the site that will establish a perennial food system (aka “food forest”) that complements the existing community garden plots successfully operating there. A media opportunity and site tour will be hosted on the morning of October 17 at the Piper Creek Site (southwest corner of the City of Red Deer Municipal Landfill quarter section - along Piper Creek).
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 04:45:26 +0000
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