NIAGARA ESCARPMENT BIOSPHERE NETWORK BLOG

A Real Winter Passes

28/03/2025

But “The Times They Are A Changin”

We are emerging from our dens like our four-legged relatives – Makwa, the black bears – following our, now-unusually long, snowy and cold winter along G’chi Bimadinaa (The Great Cliff That Runs Along, in Anishinaabemowin). Our Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Network (NEBN) members carefully watch how our environment is changing, with both its normal ups and downs, but also how humans are changing the natural course. While we were bundled up this winter, around the world, temperatures have been rising. The climate is changing in ways that will affect All Our Relations, including humans, as well as our ways of being, knowing, and doing.

The Niagara Escarpment is a unique and vital corridor for biodiversity, stretching across Ontario and into the United States. It is part of a historical trading route, used by Indigenous peoples since time immemorial, with wayfinding marker trees maintained to help travelers find what they needed. It’s home to rich ecosystems, medicines, and a range of microbiomes facing different amazing vistas, that are refuges for unique rare and endangered species. It also has many things needed for development and people: stone, gravel, wood, farmland, and clean water. We know we need to find bravery to tell the truth, honestly, and with humility.

Our organization operates using Two-Eyed Seeing, Ethical Space and Co-Governance with Indigenous Peoples across the hundreds of kilometres and multiple territories across the escarpment. We value having an appropriate relationship to the land, water, air and spirit, and respect two traditions that have to be balanced to love and honour all life.

As we listen, with respect, to the wisdom of our Indigenous members, we are continuing our strategic planning process and look forward to using academic and Indigenous knowledge to report on the state of the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere and share success stories that inspire us. We are grateful for clean water, fresh air, the land, plants and soil storing carbon, and the Mishomis stone that is the foundation of the escarpment. However, as the water in the Great Lakes warms, the winds get stronger, and precipitation patterns shift. We see the tree growth, hibernation, and migration patterns changing, and there is a mismatch between predators and prey, between fauna and flora, and all the little things we don’t see are being affected.

As well, the effects of climate change are compounded by human activities. Development pressures, land use changes, and pollution continue to threaten the integrity of the Niagara Escarpment. While the region is recognized for its global significance, we must remember that its future is not guaranteed. The Escarpment’s biodiversity faces mounting challenges as invasive species spread, habitats are fragmented, and the pressures of a warming world increase.

But even in the face of these challenges, there is hope. By remaining mindful of the changes happening around us, we are able to take proactive steps to protect this spiritually, culturally, and ecologically important region. From holding ceremony, walking in wild spaces, strengthening conservation efforts, and supporting sustainable land management practices, there are many ways we can work together for the Niagara Escarpment. Working together as a community, with local organizations, government agencies, and individuals, we can help preserve this vital being for future generations.

In this edition of our newsletter, we draw attention to some of the effective work underway by our friends, allies, and partners. These include the launch of a Seed Library at Brock University; the Niagara Escarpment Forest Carbon Project that promotes and maintains the function of diversity of ecosystems along the Escarpment; a journal entry by Kat Forbes, Bruce Trail Conservancy conservation technician; a story in McMaster University’s Brighter World concerning the dangers of microplastics in the Great Lakes region; and more. We are very proud and encouraged by the efforts we see happening all across, and up and down the Niagara Escarpment.

The long, cold winter was delightful, but the reprieve reminds us to stay vigilant and keep doing what we can to balance our human activities with our biosphere.

As we move forward into the warmer months, let’s rise refreshed with commitment to being more aware of our impact on All Our Relations, and work together to safeguard G’chi Bimadinaa for generations to come.

Charlene Winger-Jones

Co-Chair – Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Network

Victoria Serda

Co-Chair – Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Network