The Escarpment Corridor Alliance announced new charitable status at an event featuring photographer Edward Burtynsky.
by Roger Klein // Photography by Roger Klein
Improving protection for Southern Georgian Bay’s Niagara Escarpment was the focus of a two-day summit hosted by the Escarpment Corridor Alliance (ECA) at Collingwood’s Gayety Theatre in late September.
World-renowned photographer and filmmaker Edward Burtynsky provided the keynote presentation and screenings of two of his movies, Watermark and Anthropocene. The star-studded event was the largest fundraising exercise to date for the growing organization. The funds raised through the summit are being directed towards the ECA’s Natural Heritage Project.
“We believe that it is critical to have a science-first approach to our strategy and that science informs policy,” says Jarvis Strong, ECA’s executive director.
The ECA’s co-founder and president Bruce Harbinson also announced that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) had recently granted the organization charitable status. The ECA has become a collective voice for local environmental groups and is dedicated to preserving forest corridors on the Niagara Escarpment.
“Receiving charitable status from the CRA further legitimizes the ECA and opens up investment opportunities to a much broader range of foundations, agencies and individuals who see value in the work we do,” says Harbinson.
Field biologists, environmental researchers and geospatial planners have already been contracted by the ECA to start building a comprehensive database that will use GIS and LIDAR mapping. The mapping will identify where endangered species are concentrated in the Escarpment corridor, the most significant forested areas for carbon sequestration, and the most environmentally sensitive areas that need the highest levels of protection. It’s estimated that the project will cost approximately $100,000.
“We hope that the Southern Georgian Bay community will join us by donating to protect the Escarpment—before it’s too late,” says Strong.
