SASKATOON — As Christmas draws near, finding the perfect one for your family, friends, and special someone often comes with some pressure and, at times, stress in picking something meaningful or unique. The Nature Conservancy of Canada offers Green Gifts, a great and different idea for the merriest season: thoughtful and meaningful that would positively impact the environment.
NCC National Media Relations Director Andrew Holland said the Green Gift is symbolic and an alternative to store-bought or online items. It would help the non-profit organization protect Canada’s natural spaces, especially the prairies and parklands, which are the natural habitats of species like Grassland birds, plains bison, burrowing owls, swift foxes, and the black-tailed prairie dog.
“It's been happening for 29 years and benefits people in many ways. In the sense that if you have someone on your gift list — a family member, friend, or a loved one — and they either live too far, have everything, or you don’t know what to get them, this is a good option because it's a win-win in the sense that the person buying the gift gets a charitable tax receipt,” Holland told SaskToday.
“The person receiving the gift gets a certificate knowing that a gift has been made in their name for the benefit of nature. An important habitat, such as grasslands and prairies, has been adopted, or an animal, such as the snowy owl, grizzly bear, Blanding's turtle, puffins, the swift fox, and all the different river otters. The gift in their name has a purpose.”
He added that different options are available on the NCC website, with a gift that can be given to the recipient’s name, where they will receive a full-colour certificate and species information booklet. However, due to the recent strike of Canada Post employees, the physical package, which includes a 2025 NCC calendar, cannot be fulfilled.
“Physical gift orders cannot be mailed out due to the Canada Post strike. We've had to pivot this year because of the strike. ... So, as a result, we've had to go digital, which we have done before. But previously, there was a choice of mailing stuff and a calendar. Now we are doing the paperless route,” said Holland.
“They get a digital certificate and species information booklet, a video on the importance of our work, and a beautiful digital photo of the species or the habitat that's been protected for them in their name. It's a win-win. We get to use the money as Canada's largest conservation group to set aside essential habitats. We use the funds to help our conservation and stewardship work nationwide.”
The Green Gifts can be viewed at giving.natureconservancy.ca. The first step in purchasing a green gift is selecting a species or habitat and then choosing the donation amount, which ranges from $50 to $500. You then click Add to Cart and personalize your gift by writing the recipient’s information — name for the certificate and email address — along with a message.
Holland said NCC’s focus is protecting the habitats of other species, such as monarch butterflies, wolves, swift foxes, snowy owls, grizzly bears, Canada lynxes, Blanding's turtles, puffins, and polar bears, that are at risk due to construction and development.
“They're iconic species in Canada fighting for survival in certain parts of the country because they've lost their habitat. Their population numbers or habitats have declined due to road development, cultivation, subdivision and drainage constructions. There's a lot more competition for land right now regarding roads and housing. We're not anti-development. Everyone knows us as a habitat conservation organization since 1962,” said Holland.
“We work with willing private landowners that want to sell or donate their lands for conservation or sign an easement not to subdivide the land, harvest it, develop it, drain it, cultivate it, or alter the natural features. That's what we do in Saskatchewan, around shoreline areas, grasslands, wetlands, forest areas, floodplain or river's edge areas that are essential habitats.”
Grasslands in the prairies
He added that NCC’s priority is protecting the native and original prairie grasslands in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and parts of Alberta. Over 80 per cent of the original habitat has been lost to other uses.
“We're in a race to protect the best of what's left. That's how we use the funding to help protect the most critical habitats. We prioritize areas where wildlife can move. We try to connect forested areas and grasslands to improve wildlife movement,” Holland said.
Holland added that the Green Gift is a unique program the NCC has been doing for 29 years, and it has helped raise over $3 million of funds they used for conservation, where people get to help preserve the habitat of animals and protect the human communities.
“For example, the wetlands are important because when we get heavy rains and floods and even drought conditions in the prairies and even elsewhere when we have hot, dry weather, wetlands are vital because they hold water during drought conditions. When fires spread, these wetlands help act as fire breaks. When we get heavy rains and floods in certain parts of Canada, these wetlands help act like a big sponge or roll of paper towel. They help absorb water and hold it,” said Holland.
“That's why wetlands are important: they protect our communities from floods and droughts, water damage, and damaged infrastructure, but also during droughts when we need to hold water in our communities. The wetlands help filter our drinking water in many cases. Forests help clean our air. They give us places for recreation and help us deal with air pollution. Our forests are vital. In addition to being homes for wildlife, they provide many community benefits.”
He added native prairie grasslands also store carbon underground, preventing it from being released into the atmosphere. The carbon storage for the prairie grasslands is the NCC’s action plan to protect 500,000 hectares of native prairie grasslands up to 2030.
“These grasslands are essential because they're habitat for birds. They're working landscapes for cattle ranchers. These can continue to be working landscapes and important traditional heritage. It's in the heritage of many families to do cattle ranching, which is excellent. However, ensuring they're not cultivated or dug up in any way ensures the carbon stays underground in the deep root systems. So this helps mitigate the impacts of severe weather and climate change,” Holland said.
