Community News

'SOUTHERN ONTARIO WARMS TWICE AS RAPIDLY AS THE REST OF THE WORLD'

about the couple's adventure.

They bought their farm in 2012 - for initial reasons including more space to roam, fresh air, and food security. "We fell in love with the landscape," Armstrong said about Northumberland County's rolling hills, generous tree canopy, abundance of creeks and streams, and plethora of natural resources overall.

Today, Headwaters Farm is a 120-acre permaculture co-operative farm and education centre. "Our goal at Headwaters is to leave the earth better than how we found it," the Armstrongs stated. "In other words, creating biological and social systems that improve the health of the land and the living beings that inhabit it."

The environment and sustainability are issues clearly close to heart for the couple and in the forefront as Ontario prepares for a June provincial election.

The Armstrongs share the resources from their land, the life that inhabits it, and their knowledge with others. They welcome people on site to help with the gardens and animals, prepare and enjoy homecooked meals, take part in activities, concerts, or simply enjoy the view.

"Once they're here and we've got them captured, we can try to instill a real reverence for the land," Armstrong said.

"I think the biggest thing that people can do to promote sustainability, honestly, is...to get active. They have to either get political or join like-minded groups that are based in nature or who fight for environmental causes -- to sign petitions, to come out to rallies -- because you can't be sustainable on your own."

Recently in Port Hope, older adults representing Seniors for Climate Action Now (SCAN) used street theatre and music in an effort geared at holding Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Environment Minister David Piccini accountable for various "climate crimes."

The environmental group rallied outside of Piccini's Peter Street office.

"The climate crisis is affecting our communities, as southern Ontario warms twice as rapidly as the rest of the world," said Linda MacKenzie-Nicholas, organizer of the rally.

"In 2021, the province had its worst wildfire season on record, displacing several Indigenous communities. And just this month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's most recent report was clear -- governments must urgently and drastically reduce emissions or increase suffering for us all."

SCAN has members province-wide who are gearing up for the 2022 election with various activities and actions focused on climate change.

"We want to see improvement," MacKenzieNicholas said. "We want to see more people talking about this."

To learn more about SCAN, visit the group's website.

When asked about the priorities related to the environment as the election nears, Gigi Ludorf-Weaver, Sustainable Cobourg's president, said "for us, it's about sustainability.

"The environment is one of three components," Ludorf-Weaver said.

The others are social responsibility and economic resilience. "We need to think of those three areas in our existence because without the environment the other things don't work." Any changes need to be sustainable and affordable, she said. We are constantly trying to bring that into the discussion."

"For us, of course, we are most concerned with the climate crisis - this is

not a joke," Ludorf-Weaver said. "And this is not something anybody with any observational skills should be able to deny."

The fossil fuel industry is also a major concern as it's such an unsustainable way of using a limited resource, she said. The destruction it's causing it being passed along to future generations and "that's not acceptable to us.

"I was in (British Columbia) last summer and it was scary as hell to see what was going on with the forest fires," Ludorf-Weaver said. That caused a chain reaction with flooding, food insecurity, supply chain issues, the economy, and health and welfare.

"It just keeps on going...so where do you stop the chain reaction? You need to start where it begins, which is with the use of fossil fuels."Specifically, LudorfWeaver said the current government also needs to be asked what has happened

with retrofits and green energy incentives.

Armstrong said residents looking to get involved in making change in the sustainability/environment realm can join or follow a few "great defenders of the environment" in Northumberland, which include:

-Blue Dot Northumberland

-Sustainable Cobourg -Phorest 4R Phuture (Save Our Trees Port Hope)

-Willow Beach Field Naturalists

-Northumberland Land Trusts

-Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority

-Lower Trent Conservation Authority

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: We caught up with area residents and advocates to discuss the environment/sustainability an issue at the forefront of this year's provincial election.

NEWS

en-ca

2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://communitynews.pressreader.com/article/281509344793534

Metroland Media Group Ltd.