Now Reading
Partners Announce Eyes On The Wetlands Project
Partners Announce Eyes On The Wetlands Project
Published 11-06-08
Submitted by Imperial Oil LTD
November 6, 2008 (Calgary, Alberta) - The Parks Foundation Calgary, the Imperial Oil Foundation, Spruce Meadows and Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) announced today Calgary's newest interpretive wetlands project: the Eyes on the Wetlands.
The wetlands are located at and adjacent to Spruce Meadows, the world-class show-jumping and horse sports venue. Imperial Oil will provide the initial $400,000 needed for wetlands reclamation and project construction, which includes a classroom, a shelter/viewing blind platform, a pond viewing platform, an interpretive marsh walk and a floating deep-water platform for viewing underwater life. The Parks Foundation Calgary will provide project administration and DUC will deliver an ongoing educational program.
"The Eyes on the Wetlands will be a 'living classroom,'" Myrna Dubé, incoming president of the Parks Foundation Calgary, told Grade 5 students at Nellie McClung Elementary School. The students will be the project's first official visitors in the spring of 2009. Dubé later added, "Our project partners clearly recognize the importance of water and wetlands."
The Imperial Oil Foundation proposed the project to Spruce Meadows after learning of its efforts to protect and preserve the wetlands, which are located in a City of Calgary environmental reserve known as Radio Tower Creek.
"At Imperial Oil, we pride ourselves on being a partner and a leader in the community," Paul Smith, Imperial Oil's senior vice-president Finance & Administration and treasurer, said. "We believe the more people learn through programs such as the Eyes on the Wetlands, the more they'll want to protect our valuable wetlands."
"We have always promoted a healthy environment - we feel this project is a natural evolution of our commitment to the environment, to education and to our visitors and surrounding communities," Spruce Meadows president Linda Southern-Heathcott said.
Through its Project Webfoot program, DUC will deliver lessons and activities for Grade 5 students who visit the Eyes on the Wetlands as part of their science curriculum. Jerry Brunen, DUC's head of Education, Western Region, said more than 16,000 Alberta students a year participate in Project Webfoot.
