Lambton Wildlife Incorporated

Lambton Wildlife Incorporated was established in 1966 as the Lambton Field Naturalists. It is a volunteer, charitable organization based in Sarnia, Ontario and its members have been active in a wide range of conservation projects over the years. Lambton Wildlife Incorporated has been selected for a Conservation award to recognize an organizational lifetime achievement and a balanced approach to conservation that includes identification, protection and recovery of species and habitats. Lambton Wildlife Incorporated has documented the habitats and species of Carolinian Canada, filling in critical information gaps in regard to less studied fauna such as Mussels, Lepidoptera (butterflies), and Odonata (dragonflies).

Lambton Wildlife Incorporated has directly preserved habitat through land acquisition and management including the Mandaumin Woods Nature Reserve, the Howard Watson Trail, the Karner Blue (butterfly) Sanctuary, the Port Franks Dunes Nature Reserve and others. They publish the Earthways journal, sponsor projects, assist various conservation organizations and participate in recovery plans for rare species, such as the Karner Blue Butterfly. Lambton Wildlife Inc Website

Dorchester Mill Pond Community Stewardship Project

The Conservation Award presented to the Mill Pond Advisory Committee of the Township of North Dorchester recognizes their efforts to preserve, restore and promote the natural and historical amenities of the Mill Pond site through education and community involvement. The Dorchester Mill Pond is adjacent to the Dorchester swamp Carolinian Canada site, east on London, Ontario. The Dorchester Mill Pond Community Stewardship Project is a completely grassroots effort that has produced or made available to the local community a remarkable range of stewardship materials, has been successful in contacting and engaging landowners in on-the-ground stewardship activities, and has undertaken restoration work with the community, including schoolchildren. Their work has greatly aided the conservation of significant habitat and serves as a good model for community stewardship.

Mary Gartshore

The presentation of a Conservation Award to Mary Gartshore recognizes lifetime achievement. Through her own research, and thorough her support and initiation of other research projects Mary has greatly added to our knowledge of Haldimand-Norfolk and Carolinian Canada as a whole. She has also been instrumental in educating others about the Carolinian zone, is a leader in the restoration of Carolinian habitat, has advised and helped initiate various projects and has advocated tirelessly for protection of natural areas.

Mary Gartshore has quite literally devoted a lifetime to conservation and as a consequence her achievements, publications and projects are too numerous to list Mary was nominated for this award by the Norfolk Field Naturalists, whose application was accompanied by numerous letters of endorsement. In these letters we find Mary described as "a preeminent naturalist/advocate, an inspiration, a guide and a mentor" and in these comments we can see that her greatest contribution may be to encourage so many others to care for their environment through her example.