Volunteers work towards a clean Annapolis River
Environmental health is intimately connected to both human health and economic vitality. This is why each year hundreds of volunteers contribute their time and energy to enhance the ecological health of the Annapolis River watershed.
“It’s an important issue for us all,” says Levi Cliche, executive director of the Clean Annapolis River Project (CARP). “It’s not just about the environment and the species that live here. It affects all aspects of our lives.”
By addressing issues ranging from pollution to climate change and invasive species, CARP members and volunteers work to enhance the ecological health of the watershed through science, leadership and community engagement. With a staff of eight, CARP relies on volunteers for everything from serving on its board of directors to gathering data and planting trees.
“We’re a natural resourcebased economy,” Cliche says from the organization’s headquarters in Annapolis Royal. From agriculture to forestry and fishery, the local economy is tied to the surrounding ecosystem.
“If we don’t take care of the environment then the whole economy is under threat.”
Invasive species, both animal and plant, pose a significant threat to a number of different ecosystems, pushing out native species. This includes multiflora rose, an exotic and aggressive plant species that invades both farm fields and riverbanks.
With support from the Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species and Aquatic Habitat, CARP co-ordinates a project that addresses the threat that invasive species pose to native fish, including brook trout, Atlantic salmon and Atlantic whitefish.
“We have volunteer anglers who submit information on their catch,” Cliche explains. “This helps us fill in gaps in our knowledge about where these invasive species might be spreading.”
Volunteer anglers visit the same site multiple times each fishing season and then return to the same site each year. They record and report on both species caught and observed and provide reports to the program co-ordinator at the end of the season. If new invasive species are detected this information is immediately reported to the province’s Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
Since 2012, CARP has been implementing a wood turtle research and stewardship project, designed to ensure the long-term viability of this endangered species and its habitat in the watershed. The wood turtle is designated as a threatened species, which makes it illegal to kill, harm or harass the animal. The project recruits and trains volunteers and engages landowners and other stakeholders to promote stewardship activities that protect the animal’s habitat.
The Clean Annapolis River Project is a charitable, community-based, non-governmental organization and was created in 1990 as a result of two unrelated events. The first was the rejection of the Annapolis River system as a candidate for designation as a Canadian Heritage River.
“It was rejected because of the human impacts on the river system,” Cliche points out.
The second impetus for the organization was its selection by the scientific community as a demonstration site for an innovative environmental management initiative.
While CARP’s core mission is the improvement of the local environment, many of its initiatives have resulted in cultural, economic and healthrelated benefits that extend beyond the immediate area.
“There’s a lot of Canadian and Mi’kmaq history on this river,” Cliche points out. “It’s also the site of one of the oldest permanent European sites in North America and the oldest in Canada.”