6 hours Ago By David Helwig
Sault Ste. Marie city council is expected to approve an $11,234 grant next week to kick-start a community-mobilized urban forest that will "rewild" part of the grounds at White Pines Collegiate and Vocational School with native plants and trees. The "little forest" project is spearheaded by Sault Climate Hub and Algoma District School Board.
It's modelled after a similar project undertaken in Kingston, Ont. that has been copied by several other Ontario cities. The money will also be used to start an outdoor laboratory at Eastview Public School, where work began on the Sault's first little forest earlier this year.
"Sault Climate Hub (SCH) members have scientific expertise to guide teachers in the installation of science equipment, collecting data, and testing student-led hypotheses," says Emily Cormier, the city's sustainability coordinator, in a report prepared for a city council meeting on Monday. "Teachers bring their knowledge of curriculum connections and age-appropriate projects. Through this collaboration, the SCH can expand their little forests into living outdoor laboratories for the school sites," Cormier said.
Councillors are also expected to give $2,476 to Algoma University's biology department to design, produce and deploy four interpretive signs with information about four invasive species that grow in the forest near the university campus. Monday's city council meeting will be live-streamed on SooToday starting at 5 p.m.
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