Weston Family Soil Health Initiative

Program Overview

Loss of biodiversity on agricultural lands is occurring at an unprecedented rate due to agricultural intensification and habitat loss. Research shows that Canada’s agricultural lands offer an immediate and large-scale opportunity to mitigate further biodiversity losses, and by promoting and increasing soil organic matter, we can help support more adaptive and resilient agricultural lands.

Goal: The initiative seeks to expand the adoption of ecologically-based beneficial management practices (BMPs) that increase soil organic matter in order to improve biodiversity and resiliency on agricultural lands across Canada. The LOIs will allow the Foundation to understand the opportunities and comprehensive project ideas that currently exist, in order to build an informed framework for the proposal phase.

The initiative’s goal will be supported by the Foundation’s longer-term strategy which is comprised of catalyzing and shepherding ‘winning approaches’, to ultimately scaling projects with the greatest opportunities for impact. Successful applicants who meet the defined selection criteria within the LOI will be invited to submit full proposals.

Strategy: The initiative aims to increase the number of agricultural producers using BMPs that are scientifically proven to help increase soil organic matter on farmland. Through multi-year investments, the initiative aims to promote a behavioural shift towards the wider acceptance and adoption of the following BMPs:

Cover Cropping;
Nutrient Management (4R Principles); and
Crop Diversification/ Rotation.

Project Eligibility: Our strategy is designed to test which of the following approaches maximize the adoption rate of the desired BMPs in an efficient and scalable manner. Eligible approaches include:

Incentivizing Stewardship: Projects which incentivize producers to adopt one or more of the identified BMPs (e.g. reverse auctions, community-based models).
Outreach/Education and Training: Projects which increase access to, share technical knowledge of, and train producers on the identified BMPs.
Sustainability Certification/Standard: A project which aims to establish a sustainable farmland management certification/standard at scale.

Funding: The timeframe for this ‘spark phase’ will run 3-5 years in length with a total funding envelope of $10M.

Project Roundup: The Great Lakes Challenge

When our Foundation connected with non-profit organization Swim Drink Fish in 2017 to launch the Great Lakes Challenge, we did so to champion projects with several key goals in mind.

As part of a larger commitment to protect freshwater that included a separate Nature Conservancy of Canada initiative on Lakes Superior and Erie, we wanted the Challenge projects to focus on conservation of Great Lakes waters, wetlands, and key tributaries. We wanted to invest in efforts that would make major, sustainable impacts over the long term but start delivering results in the short term, alleviating threats such as polluted water and loss of habitat for species at risk. We wanted to create tangible outcomes that the citizens of the Great Lakes could recognize, experience and enjoy — building on the idea that people who are connected to the water are more likely to protect it.

Thanks to the dedication, drive and vision of many, these goals have been achieved.

Click here for the full story.

Soil Health Initiative

Launched in 2022, the Weston Family Soil Health Initiative is a five-year, $10 million effort to increase biodiversity and ecological resilience by expanding the adoption of beneficial management practices (BMPs) across Canada’s agricultural lands. The Initiative focuses on practices such as cover cropping, nutrient management (4R principles), and crop diversification/rotation, which improve soil organic matter, enhance water retention, sequester carbon, and make agro-ecosystems more resilient.

Grants have been awarded to eight agricultural and conservation organizations – the University of Guelph, Dalhousie University, Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, Greenbelt Foundation, Farming Smarter Association, Assiniboine Community College Foundation, The Resilience Institute, and the University of Saskatchewan. These organizations are working to promote soil health BMPs by incentivizing stewardship, supporting outreach and education, and developing market-based approaches to adoption.

Together, these projects are advancing soil health at scale. In just three years, they have:

Managed 380,000+ acres using soil health BMPs

Engaged and trained 21,000+ producers in sustainable practices

Contributed to 25 scientific publications advancing soil health knowledge

Developed 15 evidence-based tools and resources for use across Canada

These projects demonstrate the power of collaboration in tackling one of Canada’s most urgent environmental challenges – improving soil health to secure a thriving future for both people and nature.

For more information, please refer to the links below:

Media Release
Project summaries

Applications now being accepted for the 2022 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research

The Weston Family Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of the 2022 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research. Through a competitive process, these awards are presented annually to outstanding students and scientists in northern research from across Canada.

As of Nov. 4, 2021, the Weston Family Awards are open to students pursuing master’s or doctoral degrees, or a postdoctoral fellowship. Past winners have undertaken research projects across a broad spectrum of fields and disciplines in the natural sciences, including studies of northern ecosystems, biodiversity, flora and fauna, meteorology, oceanography, glaciology, geography and environmental studies.

Since the program’s inception in 2007, more than 300 early-career researchers have been selected to receive an award, forming a community of Weston Family Northern Scientists who are at the forefront of northern scholarship and who are helping shape a better future for Canada and the world. In the most recent round of awards, 27 researchers were chosen for a variety of research projects, including bird biodiversity, polar bear ecology, permafrost thaw, beluga health and Inuit knowledge.

The deadline to submit an application for the current awards program is Jan. 27, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. (EST). For more information, please visit www.westonfamilyawards.ca.

Congratulations to the winners of the Weston Family Awards in Northern Research

The Weston Family Awards in Northern Research were launched in 2007 to support early-career researchers focusing on science in the North. Since that time, nearly 300 scientists have been funded at the graduate and postdoctoral level.

Through a competitive process, awards are presented to outstanding students and scientists in northern research from universities across Canada. This year, 27 researchers were chosen for a variety of research projects, including bird biodiversity, polar bear ecology, permafrost thaw, beluga health and Inuit knowledge.

Read more about the work of this year’s award winners here: 2021 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research

Earth Rangers

Since 2011, the Weston Family Foundation has supported Earth Rangers’ mission to foster environmental education and to encourage every child to take action towards the conservation of northern Canada north.

Earth Rangers’ national Wildlife Adoptions Program helps to educate children and empower them to improve the environment and protect animals. Foundation support has enabled more than one million children and their families to learn about iconic northern species such as caribou, polar bear, and beluga whale, bringing a deeper understanding of northern wildlife to new audiences. As a result, Earth Rangers has been successful in engaging families across the country to support biodiversity and conservation in Canada’s North.

For more information, visit the Earth Rangers website: www.earthrangers.com

Wildlife Conservation Society Canada

Encouraging meaningful and informative collaborations is at the core of the Foundation’s work to enhance scientific research and shape dialogue about Canada’s North. The Foundation supports organizations that build new alliances and forge significant relationships between environmental organizations, decision makers and other key stakeholders.

Across the Northern Boreal forests and the western Arctic, Wildlife Conservation Society Canada (WCS Canada) is supported by the Foundation to ensure that scientific data is available to guide decisions for the protection of species and ecosystems through meaningful collaborations.

WCS Canada also administers the Weston Family Boreal Research Fellowships, which allow the next generation of northern researchers to work alongside leading scientists, thereby enhancing their graduate-level work and informing new conversations. The annual fellowships are awarded to support field research relevant to WCS Canada’s conservation objectives at their two long-term conservation sites: the boreal region of Northern Ontario and the Northern Boreal Mountains of Yukon and British Columbia.

For more information on the Fellowships, please visit the WCS Canada Fellowships page

For details on the accomplishments of the program, please review the 2009-2019 WCS Canada Fellowship Program Report

Canadian City Parks Report

Three years ago, our Foundation supported Park People to fill an information gap by gathering, analyzing and sharing data and stories about Canada’s city parks system. Since that time, the annual Canadian City Parks Report has become an invaluable tool for municipal staff and volunteers to highlight challenges, share best practices, and adapt to the changing needs of city parks across the country.

The 2021 Canadian City Parks Report was launched in early July featuring information from 32 cities across Canada. It also includes the results of a survey with nearly 3,500 participants who shared what parks have meant to them during the pandemic.

To read the 2021 Canadian City Parks Report, please visit parkpeople.ca

The Meadoway

In 2013, our Foundation worked with Park People to launch the Weston Family Parks Challenge—a $5M initiative to encourage innovative and sustainable city parks projects. Twenty-six projects were supported, including the successful Scarborough Butterfly Trail, an innovative trail and meadow restoration project in the Gatineau Hydro Corridor.

In April 2018, our Foundation, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), and the City of Toronto jointly announced a ground-breaking city-building initiative to transform 16 kilometres of underutilized land into one of Canada’s largest urban linear parks. Expanding on the Scarborough Butterfly Trail, The Meadoway will restore biodiversity, connect Canadians to nature, and act as a pilot for restoration projects across the country.

Stretching from the Don River Ravine in downtown Toronto to Rouge National Urban Park, The Meadoway will become a vibrant expanse of urban greenspace and meadowlands as it develops over the next three years. It will connect four ravines, 15 parks, 34 neighbourhoods, over 500 acres and more than 1,000 diverse species of flora and fauna. The Meadoway will connect schools, businesses, hospitals, and underused parks and trails across Scarborough for the benefit of locals and visitors alike.

Our Foundation has pledged up to $25 million to help Toronto realize The Meadoway. Read more about its progress at themeadoway.ca.

Weston Family Prairie Grasslands Initiative

The Weston Family Prairie Grasslands Initiative is a five-year collaboration to celebrate, steward and protect one of Canada’s most ecologically valuable and threatened ecosystems. Nearly $25M has been committed to five organizations to accelerate the implementation of sustainable practices and achieve landscape-level impact: Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Saskatchewan Stock Growers Foundation, Grasslands National Park (Parks Canada) and Meewasin Valley Authority.

Each organization brings additional funding and in-kind donations for a total of $70M going toward this collaboration over the next five years. The Initiative aims to improve species-at-risk habitat, enable wildlife movement, expand the amount of land protection in the prairies and ultimately increase long-term ecological and economic stability. Dozens of partners will support this work that will affect nearly four million acres of priority native grasslands in one of the largest conservation efforts in Canadian history.

We’ve now launched the call for applications for the second phase of the Weston Family Prairie Grasslands Initiative, apply now!

For more information, please refer to the links below:

Media Release

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