3 Brampton parks to get educational signage on local species

Thestar.com
Nov. 19, 2021

Environmental education is coming to three Brampton parks.

The Community Climate Council -- a local youth-founded, not-for-profit environmental organization in Peel -- is launching its Ephemeral Education guided walk on Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. at Norton Park.

Educational signage designed by its five-person team of young volunteers will be located at three parks across Brampton for two weeks each. Different themes have been selected for each park: “Nerd out in Nature” at Norton Park, “Bringing Back Nature” at Dorchester Park, and “Tree Time” at Fred Kline Park.

The information is available in English and Hindi to reduce barriers for newcomers in outdoor spaces. Names of the flora and fauna featured on the signs are translated into Ojibwe so residents can learn what these species are called in the specific area and to remind “ourselves that we are settlers on the land we call home.” The signs are illustrated by the team members, and on the launch day colouring sheets with illustrations from the signs will be offered to families.

The pioneers of this project, Miranda Baksh, chief executive officer, and Brian Ford, environmental education lead, hope it offers residents a deeper connection to the land and a better understanding of the environment.

The project officially started in January 2021 after they received the TD Park People Grant, but it’s an idea Baksh has had for some time.

“I’ve had the idea for a few years now because I’ve seen the barriers of access to natural spaces,” Baksh said. “I thought it would be nice if we had community-led signage to feel more connected to the land, and to learn about different species -- why they’re important and how they’re impacted by climate change.”

The parks were also chosen for specific reasons. Baksh said because Norton Park is in a lower socioeconomic region, they wanted to help create a positive learning space where families can receive quality education easily. Fred Kline Park had a simple connection as Community Climate Council is adopting it, and will commit to many park cleanups in the future. Lastly, a local community group reached out asking to collaborate on something for Dorchester Park.

When choosing which species to highlight, Ford (who is a botanist) said they chose vegetation and animals that are easy to recognize for the average person -- white pine, woodpeckers, and beavers, to name a few.

“We’re highlighting mostly native plants and animals that originated here on the landscape. We really want to pay attention to the diversity we have just in Brampton,” Ford explained. “It’s incredible these urban parks hold so much.”

Ford hopes that residents walking through the parks will recognize there are “a lot more beings that share our backyards and our neighbourhoods than most of us might think.”

In addition, it highlights the local environment and what people can do to help keep communities clean, and to make the local community more aware of the threat the natural world faces from climate change and invasive species.

“I hope these signs bring awareness to what’s here to hopefully instil a bit of feeling of place and belonging in people so they can really feel like they’re part of the community and hopefully take care of that community,” Ford said.

Baksh believes that having the signs in English and Hindi will ensure that outdoor spaces are inclusive for the Brampton community at large. The land acknowledgement signs also emphasize that “we’re settlers on this land, to steward the land and own that sense of appreciation for future generations, as well.”

For the CEO, the goal of the project is to create a connection between the land and the residents because when this happens, "community resiliencies improve as well as climate adaption,” Baksh said.

Both Baksh and Ford want the project to continue next year, when the weather is warmer and vegetation is growing, but that will be dependent on the council's funding.