Let us join hands to save a legacy

Aviva Community Fund’s “Explore Ideas” Competition

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My proposal is two-pronged. It consists of one “Big” and one “Medium” sized idea.

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Both ideas cover a geographical area that spans over 850 kilometers of Canada’s ‘oldest and longest footpath’ that begins in Niagara, winds through the Niagara Escarpment, and ends in Tobermory. This foot trail, otherwise knows as the Bruce Trail, is designated by UNESCO as a World Biosphere Reserve.

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The two ideas are intertwined and fit into more than one of the categories of community improvement that Aviva supports. These ideas, if funded by Aviva and implemented, would make it possible to: a) rejuvenate neighbourhoods (and/or abutting lands), b) support the youth, c) improve education, d) encourage healthy lifestyles, and e) preserve the environment

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The “Big” Idea

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Donate $250,000 to the Bruce Trail Conservancy Land Acquisition Program (“BTC LAP”) in order to permanently preserve in perpetuity public access to the Bruce Trail in an environmentally responsible manner.

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As the Bruce Trail Conservancy website reads: “In total 48% of the Bruce Trail is secure and safe from development. However, many users do not realize that the Bruce Trail is not permanently secure, and 52% of the Bruce Trail is still vulnerable to development.

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The Bruce Trail Conservancy acquires Escarpment land by receiving donations of land from landowners, and through purchase with funds raised from donors or partners. The BTC raises funds to acquire and care for Escarpment land. .

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These acquisitions protect a diverse array of landscape types: wetlands, karst topography, open meadows, caves, towering scarp edges and lush forests.”

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The recent purchase of 80 acres he Boyne Valley just east of Shelburne is a prime example of what the BTC’s land acquisition program accomplishes. Donations totaling $323,000 were used to secure and preserve this property.

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A donation of $250,000. from Aviva will extend the BTC’s land stewardship, expand the ‘protection of natural ecosystems’ and ‘promote environmentally responsible public access to the Bruce Trail.

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The Bruce Trail is for all to enjoy and preserve. It is a national treasure that must and needs to be preserved.

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The “Medium-sized” Idea

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In turn, the Bruce Trail Conservancy could reciprocate as follows.

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The Bruce Trail is supported by nine clubs. These are the Niagara, Iroquoia, Toronto, Caledon Hills, Dufferin Hi-Land, Blue Mountains, Beaver Valley, Sydenham and Peninsula Bruce Trail Clubs. Each club is responsible for the ‘trail maintenance, stewardship, public education, hiking programs, landowner relations’ and the other tasks associated with the section of the Bruce Trail that it oversees. Most of these activities are done on a volunteer basis.

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My medium-sized idea would entail allotting $2,000 to each of the nine clubs that agree to participate (for a total of $18,000). This $2,000/participating club donation will give each club the operating funds to specifically engage young people in their communities.

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The program could work as follows:

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1. Volunteer BTC members will contact the authorities of high schools in their areas to discuss, get approval for and obtain support for students to be part of this Aviva-sponsored initiative.

2. Volunteer BTC hike leaders and members, with the approval and support of school officials, parents and, if applicable, persons or organizations who maintain trails, will lead high school students who agree to participate, on hikes. The hikes would be along sections of the Bruce Trail that run through or cross their communities or in trails where BTC members walk or hike through. The trails will be chosen with care as the students who decide to participate could have different levels of walking abilities.

3. Parents and others who wish to participate and support this initiative may join in a hike. However, the size of the hiking group or groups will be determined by the BTC hike leaders to ensure that are manageable.

4. With the school authorities’ approval, high school students who participate in a 4 or 5 hour hike will be able to claim the equivalent of 8 hours of the 40-hour unpaid community involvement required to graduate and obtain their Ontario Secondary School Diploma.

5. BTC hike leaders will decide which trail to hike, taking into consideration the accessibility to the trail by the students. BTC members may volunteer to meet students at a common starting point, car pool to the start of the trail and back.

6. Prior to the hike, the students and others who will be part of the hike will be taught the basics of hiking. On the day of the hike, students and other participants will be asked to bring lunch, snacks, fruit, drinks or water, as appropriate for the chosen trail.

7. At the start of a hike, each student, other participants and BTC volunteers will be given a garbage bag and rubber gloves. Students, other participants and BTC members will be asked to pick up garbage found along the hiking trail.

8. As an incentive for the students, a gift certificate of an appropriate monetary value would be given to the student who picks up the most garbage along the trail.

9. BTC members may structure a hike in such a manner that it engages the students. Tree, bird, wildlife and plant identification exercises can be done. The history of the Bruce Trail and information on the length and breadth of the trail can be shared. Geographical, cultural, historical and other points of interest along a trail can be explained to give the students a greater awareness of the significance of that part of a trail.

10. At the end of the hike, the garbage bags will be collected and disposed of by the BTC club volunteers. BTC volunteers will see to it that all students are able to return home safely.

11. If the BTC hike leaders and volunteers are willing to go on a second 4 or 5 hour hike and pick up garbage at another trail, this may be offered to the students and appropriate arrangements made.

12. BTC hike leaders and volunteers will provide the necessary certification to attest that a student had gone on a hike and had participated in the clean-up of a trail. Each hike would equate to 8-hours of community service by the student.

13. Each club will use the $2,000 Aviva donation to pay for the garbage bags, rubber gloves, incentive prize money, gas for the hike leaders and volunteers’ cars used to transport the students, and other related expenses. Any surplus will be for the benefit of the club and its maintenance and preservation activities.

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For the youth - If this initiative is properly focused and structured, it will give young people a better appreciation of the beauty and essence of the Bruce Trail. When high school students participate in cleaning up sections of the Bruce Trail or other community trails, they can find pride and purpose in contributing to the preservation and maintenance of the precious foot paths that run through their communities.

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Sharing with the youth the joy of walking encourages a healthy lifestyle and, when a thing or two is learned along the trail, a student’s knowledge of history, science, nature and culture is broadened. Not to forget the fact that participating high school students get to earn credits toward the 40-hour community involvement required for high school graduation.

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For BTC members - Knowing that a generation of new and appreciative hikers could be in the making is reward enough. Involving and sharing with young people the simple pleasure of walking, in an increasingly busy and noisy world, reenergizes the community.

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For the Bruce Trail and other community trails – Trails and footpaths will receive added grooming and maintenance. For the Bruce Trail in particular, a legacy is further preserved.