Eco-Journal, v.17.5 Nov/Dec 2007Eco-Journal, v.17.5 Nov/Dec 2007
Amerorchis rotundifolia, from the NOCI Calendar
By Peggy Bainard Acheson
Native Orchid Conservation Inc. (NOCI) is celebrating ten years of conservation and public education work in 2008 with a useful and beautiful calendar that features native Manitoba orchids and other original nature photographs on every page. NOCI was incorporated in 1998 as a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting native orchids and their habitat.
Their first project was the protection of 563 ha in the Brokenhead Wetlands located close to Gull Lake on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. The area contains 28 of Manitoba´s 36 orchid species as well as 23 rare plant species including eight species of carnivorous plants. Due to NOCI´s diligent work the wetland area, which is part of a wetland known as a fen, was declared under the Province´s Protected Areas Initiative as an Ecological Reserve in 2005, the highest form of protection conferred by the Province.
Award-winning group
Over the ten years of its existence NOCI began to be recognized for its work; the group received the Premier´s Volunteer Award in 2006 and in June 2007 they received Silver at the Canadian Environment Awards sponsored by the Canadian Geographic Society in the Conservation category.
NOCI is dedicated to public education. The group makes presentations and displays featuring orchids, conservation, and their projects. Members of NOCI may participate in field trips to learn about orchids and how to protect them. In 2005 they published a field guide, Orchids of Manitoba, which is a comprehensive guide to recognizing and finding wild orchids in Manitoba. They also produced a video, Zoom in on Native Orchids, which is aimed at school children and the general public and features Al Simmons, a local children´s entertainer.
Protecting sensitive ecological areas
Recently they produced a new video to promote their newest project to raise money for a boardwalk and interpretive trail on the edge of the Brokenhead Ecological Reserve. The boardwalk will be built with two purposes: first to protect the orchids and the wetland that are sensitive to compaction by visitors, and two to make it easier for interpreters to lead guided tours into the wetland for educational purposes.
The publication of this 2008 calendar is in honour of NOCI´s tenth anniversary. All proceeds will be directed to Debwendon, the board walk project in the Brokenhead Wetlands. Calendars are $10.00 each and may be ordered by contacting Huguette Calvez at 237-9325 or by ordering online at http://www.nativeorchid.org.