Huron Expositor, 2017-03-08, Page 1010 Huron Expositor • Wednesday. March 8. 2017
A documentary about the tough times of Madagascar
Shaun Gregory
Huron Expositor
To create an exclusive
documentary about the
hardships of southern Mad-
agascar, a Goderich
researcher and local artist
are joining forces.
Researcher Amber
Walker -Bolton and aspir-
ing filmmaker Devin Stur-
geon invited the public to
the Huron County
Museum March 2 to edu-
cate them on their upcom-
ing enterprise.
In the front entrance of
the museum, framed photo-
graphs surround the room;
these pieces of art are being
sold to help pay for the film
as well as helping to accom-
modate Sturgeon's trip to
the foreign land.
The night ended with a
lecture by Walker -Bolton;
she informed the crowd of
the project and ils two
themed focus - the near
extinction of the ring-tailed
lemur as well as its main
concentration on the people
of Madagascar.
Several studies have
proved that the ring-tailed
lemur is on the brink of
extinction, there are cur-
rently roughly 2,500 left
and according to the
National Geographic the
herbivores are an endan-
gered species.
Walker -Bolton said she
wants to know what is trig-
gering these low numbers,
"do they look at them as a
food source or something to
be hunted?"
The excursion to the Ber-
enty Reserve is expected to
take a couple of flights as
well as a long ride through
the jungle, this is the desti-
nation where Walker -Bolton
has spent the last six years
doing research.
She will arrive in April
with Sturgeon set to follow a
month later to film the mat-
ing behaviour of the lemur.
She said it's a "brief moment,
since they only mate once a
year.
Currently the area is suf-
fering from a massive
drought that has affected
roughly 850,000 people.
"We want to just bring
awareness to the people of
Canada about what's going
on in Madagascar," stated
Walker -Bolton about the
intentions of the trip.
"People will see the film
and want to support our pro-
jects, it will also be an eye-
opener on what it's like to
run these types of conserva-
tion projects."
If you would like to sup-
port the project there is a
GoFundMe. page called the
Madagascar Conservation
Documentary, they have
raised about S800 of the
$6,000 goal.
Walker -Bolton also
mentioned that there is an
account at the Goderich
Scotia Bank, specifically
launched for this
endeavour.
Shaun Gregory
Researcher Amber Walker -Bolton held a lecture at the Huron County Museum in Goderich March
2 about a documentary initiative relating to ring-tailed lemur and the adversities of the people in
Madagascar.
Homeowners can attend rain garden workshops
Ausable Bayfield Conservation hosting
Ar two workshops in Bayfield in March
People in Bayfield and
area can learn about rain
gardens and their construc-
tion at two local workshops
in March of 2017.
Ausable Bayfield Con-
servation is hosting two
rain garden workshops in
Bayfield. The first work-
shop was designed for
landscape contractors and
designers and took place
on March 2, 2017. A rain
garden workshop for
homeowners takes place
on March 25, 2017.
Rain gardens are shallow,
sunken gardens. They pro-
tect local water quality
when they collect, absorb
and filter water running off
of land during storms.
When it rains or when snow
melts, water runs off roofs,
patios and driveways. Rain
gardens can prevent this
water, along with contami-
nants the runoff picks up,
from draining directly into
a local storm sewer or
nearby watercourses.
"Rain gardens provide
benefits to water quality,"
said Hope Brock, Healthy
Watersheds Technician
with Ausable Bayfield Con-
servation. "Rain gardens
reduce flooding and
erosion," she said. "They
can also add beauty to
your yard and create
habitat."
The second workshop, for
homeowners, is free. It
takes place in Bayfield on
Saturday, March 25, 2017
from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00
p.m. at Bayfield Town Hall.
Homeowners will learn
about design, construction,
native plants, and a grant
program. Homeowners
who would like to install a
rain garden on their prop-
erty are eligible to apply for
funding to help them
thanks to support from the
Bluewater Beach Commit-
tee (Municipality of Blue -
water, Huron County
Health Unit, Pioneer Park
Association and Ausable
Bayfield Conservation).
"We are excited to work
with our partners to pro-
vide homeowners with
some funding to complete
these projects that help to
improve beach water qual-
ity," said Kyle Pratt, Chief
Administrative Officer with
Municipality of Bluewater.
Event hosts invite home-
owners to register for the
March 25 workshp.p with
I lope Brock at 519-235-2610
Contributed photo
About 15 community volunteers, along with dozens of students from Huron Centenniat-School, helped to plant two new rain gardens
in Bayfield. Shown here are from left to right are Garnet McBride; Kelly Vader, of BM Ross and Associates Ltd.; Margaret McBride; Ray
Letheren; Jo Thorsley; Shelagh Sully; Sandy Scotchmer; and Catherine Tillman.
or toll-free at 1-888-286-2610 The two rain garden Design Ltd. Thompson has
or email hbrock@abca. workshops are led by rain worked on stormwater
on.ca. Event planners ask garden expert Jeff Thomp- management projects that
people to register before son, of Thompson Envi- range from in size from
March 17, 2017. ronmental Planning and residential backyards to a
two -hectare system at
Toronto's Pearson Interna-
tional Airport to treat run-
off from de-icing
operations.