WEST ELGIN – On behalf of the Honourable John Baird, Minister of the Environment, Joe Preston, Member of Parliament (Elgin-Middlesex-London), announced financial support of $64,000 to the West Elgin Habitat Restoration Project as part of the EcoAction Community Funding Program. The funding has already contributed to local forest and wetland areas restoration and involved community partners in the collection, processing and storage of native hardwood seed as well as planting projects.

“Canadians are good environmental citizens and want to preserve and protect their environment,” said Mr. Preston. “This government wants to ensure Canadians across the country have the opportunity to become directly involved in taking concrete action in their communities. We know Canadians can make a difference – to the benefit of both their community and the environment.”

“The Elgin Stewardship Council is keenly interested in providing support to assist landowners in realizing their goals for habitat restoration so that the needs of agriculture and the environment can be met. The West Elgin Habitat Restoration project exemplifies this role in the community with the help of the Elgin Landscape Strategy and the other resource management partners we are networked with,” stated Chairman of the Elgin Stewardship Council Russ Wiltsie.

The EcoAction Community Funding Program is an Environment Canada initiative that supports projects that protect, rehabilitate or enhance the natural environment, and builds the capacity of communities and individuals in support of a more sustainable Canada. The West Elgin Habitat Restoration Project announced today will assist locally-based, non-profit organizations to initiate actions that result in cleaner air, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, cleaner water, and the conservation of nature at the local community level.

The local groups involved in this project include; Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority, Canada – Ontario Enviroment Farm Plan, Aldborough Public School, St. Leonard’s Society, Dan Higgs Excavating, West Elgin Nature Club, Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Elgin Stewardship Council. Mark Emery, of the Ontario Stewardship Council, thanked each group for their tremendous donations of time and energy to restoration projects in Elgin.

Landowner, Norm Miller also addressed the group, “ Programs, such as Eco Action, enable landowners to perform projects such as tree planting and wetland creation that otherwise would be too much for the individual landowner to take on.”

The Government of Canada has recently unveiled its new ecoAction Environmental Agenda, Using Less; Living Better campaign. This new suite of programs and initiatives such as ecoTransport, ecoEnergy and ecoTrust are part of a comprehensive agenda to protect the health of Canadians, the environment and demonstrate that Canada’s New Government is taking concrete measures to address climate change and air pollution. More information on each initiative is available on the Government of Canada ecoAction website at www.ecoaction.gc.ca.

Environment Canada’s EcoAction Community Funding Program will continue to provide financial support to Canadian not-for-profit organizations to undertake community-level projects that have positive, measurable results for the environment. These organizations are encouraged to become involved in EcoAction projects in their community. The next submission deadline for proposals to the EcoAction program is October 1, 2007.