By Gina Pannunzio and Ian Naisbitt   

The first Earth Day was on 22 April, 1970. Since then it has become an annual event to celebrate Mother Earth and to support local community environmental actions. Some passionate organisations have expanded their celebrations to call it Earth Week or even April as Earth Month!

On Saturday, 21 April, 1990, the Little River Enhancement Group (Lil’ Reg) and partners organised our first Earth Day celebration by participating in a river cleanup in Little River Corridor Park (LRCPark) in East Windsor. Since then, we have celebrated 11 Earth Day cleanups in the park. Additionally, our partnership has celebrated Earth Day by planting trees and shrubs 11 times in LRCPark.

Our partnership included: Browning-Ferris Industries, Casino Windsor, City of Windsor, Detroit River Canadian Cleanup, Essex County Nature, Essex Region Conservation Authority and Unifor Local 200.

On Sunday, 23 April, 2023 from 10 a.m. to noon, the Essex Region Conservation Authority invited community volunteers and their “Green Teams” to help plant 1600 native trees in Little River Corridor Park. Specifically, it included the open, green space south of Wyandotte Street, between Florence Avenue and Martinique Avenue. This year’s site is again in the Little River Watershed, so we are delighted to add the 1600 trees planted to the total number of trees planted in LRCPark to 21774. This event was generously sponsored by Enwin Utilities Ltd..

Sunrise was at 6:38 a.m. today and the temperature was 2 Celsius. The weather forecast called for: “Some sun this morning with increasing clouds this afternoon. High of 11 C. Winds at 15 to 25 km/ h, which is a gentle to moderate breeze according to Mr. Beaufort. UV Index 4 out of 10.” Around 11 a.m. rain showers mixed with small ice pellets arrived!

Wildlife observed today included: Red-winged Blackbird, Canada Goose, American Robin, Mute Swan, Killdeer and a tern (black wing tips, orange bill and black cap) not sure which species. It is always gratifying to see wildlife using these natural ideas to survive and raise their young. An observation was made: a trio of a Mute Swan, Mallard Drake and Canada Goose were foraging within a metre of each other. It appears these birds are able to share the pond together peacefully.

Photo 1: White Flowering Trees. There were several of these blooming in the surrounding natural area and I was informed by two knowledgeable professionals that they were either Cherry, Pear or Apple trees. The Redbuds were just beginning to open.  

Photo 2: Family Planting Earth Day 2023. What a coincidence! Randomly, I chose this family group to follow and watch them plant a tree. I asked if I could take a photograph of them and they agreed. A few minutes later two young ladies approached me and asked, “Are you Mr. Naisbitt?” I knew right away they were former students. They introduced themselves and we had a pleasant conversation. It is always an enjoyable experience to have former students introduce themselves and have a wonderful heart-to-heart together. They remember helping to cleanup and plant trees with other Concord School students.

Reforesting the Little River Watershed has always been an essential target for our group. Along with the creation of wetlands, our members feel both of these objectives are critical for the improvement of the ecosystem health of the watershed. Our planting and cleanup events also help our community to delist the Detroit River as an Area of Concern (AOC) in the Great Lakes Basin. Specifically, these activities address two of the Beneficial Use Impairments (BUI) of the Detroit River AOC:

  • Degradation of fish and wildlife populations (BUI # 3).
  • The loss of fish and wildlife habitat (BUI # 14).

We acknowledge that the Little River Watershed is in the traditional and ancestral territory of The Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations, which includes the Ojibwa, the Odawa and the Potawatomi Peoples. We recognise that Indigenous Peoples had an original connection with their ancestral land. 

We are dedicated to learning about and helping First Nations to protect, preserve and restore their ancestral lands and waters. We value and respect the contributions and relationships of the Indigenous Peoples in their ancestral territory.

“We do not inherit this land from our ancestors, We borrow it from our children.” ~Haida Proverb