It was a day of celebration - a day that marked the beginning of an exciting new project and partnerships for the Atlantic Wildlife Institute (AWI).
During a special ceremony last Thursday, AWI announced it will partner with the region's Aboriginal community, Westmorland Institution and TD Friends of the Environment Foundation to bring its Restoring Balance project to life this spring.
The new initiative will include the development of a native plant and medicinal healing garden, an interpretive walking trail, and a plant and tree nursery. It will be funded with the help of a $35,000 donation from TD Friends of the Environment.
Barry Rothfuss, co-founder and executive director of the AWI facility, said the Restoring Balance project will focus on the preservation and study of native and medicinal plants, while offering Aboriginal peoples the opportunity to connect with their traditions through garden work and engagement with elders.
He said inmates from Westmorland Institution will play a major role in the project - the gardens and nursery will be nurtured by workers whose cultural traditions honour the plants.
"Today's celebration hopefully is the beginning of a long and productive partnership working to restore understanding and respect for Aboriginal heritage, and to reinforce sound ecological practices in our community," said Rothfuss during last week's event, which celebrated Aboriginal cultural heritage and featured an array of Aboriginal dishes and an afternoon of dancing, drumming, songs and storytelling.
AWI - founded in 1996 as a non-profit, charitable organization - is dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of wildlife that has been displaced as a result of human encroachment on natural ecosystems.
Its facilities are located on a 120-acre site of mixed forests, open fields and wetlands in Cookville, about 15 kilometeres outside of Sackville. Site infrastructure includes a wildlife learning centre, animal care buildings, a 100-foot flight aviary, an aquatic animal treatment building, large mammal enclosures and various educational areas.
The garden, which will be located adjacent to the AWI Learning Centre, will showcase a variety of native plant species, some of which have been identified as sensitive or at-risk and some of which have spiritual and medicinal value in Aboriginal tradition.
The self-guided walking trail will take visitors through varied plant habitats on the site - meadow, wetland, stream banks, ponds, and a woodlot that is being restored to demonstrate the diversity of the Acadian forest.
In time, the project will also include a nursery that will help propagate and distribute specimens for use in landscaping and habitat restoration.
"Restoring Balance is an exciting new extension of our ongoing commitment to wildlife rehabilitation, as a means of exploring the links between ecosystem health and human well-being," said Pam Novak, co-founder of AWI.
One of AWI's main goals, said Rothfuss, is to educate the general population about wildlife rehabilitation and how human actions impact our regional and global environment.
He said AWI is always looking for opportunities to "find those avenues" for more educational involvement, particularly from those who would normally be excluded from the wildlife work.
This is why the partnership they have established over the years with Westmorland Institution has been such an important part of AWI's success.
"We believe that individuals who participate in our work release program leave here with a different, more positive appreciation of the natural environment. It really makes a difference in their lives, it's something they take with them when they go back home."
The advantages of this cooperative relationship are also felt by AWI.
"The benefits we have gained from this partnership are found in every corner of our charitable work," he said. "From the building we are in right now, to the programs and services we offer to the public."
Rothfuss said the initial prep work on the garden and the trail projects got under way this past fall but the main work will come this spring and summer.
