Le Mardi 30 juin 2009
The toolkit for the program My clean beach is now available
publié par Comité ZIP Ville-Marie
Press release
Immediate release
The toolkit for the program My clean beach is now available
Montreal, April 8th 2009 – The Comité ZIP Ville-Marie is proud to release a new version of the program My clean beach, adapted for freshwater habitats. My clean beach is an educative, community-action program that promotes the participation of communities into cleanup activities and monitoring of shoreline issues.
This program consists of a toolkit that aims to 1) facilitate the organisation of cleanup events that are fun, educative and safe; 2) facilitate the identification of shoreline issues (erosion, modification of the riparian buffer zone, exotic species); and 3) to raise awareness about the importance of riparian habitats. With this toolkit, volunteers can easily take part in the protection and restoration of a natural habitat.
The main tools of the toolkit are the organisation’s guide and two data cards. The guide allow anyone to organise a cleanup that is safe and educative, while the data cards help to evaluate and document the pollution caused by debris and other riparian issues. The toolkit also includes many educative and help cards. It is complemented by a website that gives access to the tools and to more information about riparian habitats and their problems.
The toolkit can be downloaded on the My clean beach website at www.mapropreplage.net/eau-douce . The toolkit is also available in print for free . People and organisations that are interested in organising a cleanup event can get it by contacting the Comité ZIP Ville-Marie (514-934-0884, [email protected] ). People that plan to use it this season will receive free gloves, trash bags and recycling bags.
This project is being carried out, in part, thanks to a contribution from the Community Interaction Program. Funding for this joint program, which is related to the St. Lawrence Plan for a Sustainable Development, is shared by Environment Canada and the Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs du Québec. Fisheries and Oceans Canada also provided technical and financial support to the project.
For more information about the toolkit and the program, please visit the website of My clean beach – freshwater section at www.mapropreplage.net/eau-douce or contact Louise Morin, project manager, Comité ZIP Ville-Marie at (514) 934-0884 or at l[email protected]
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The Comité ZIP Ville-Marie was founded in 1996 as a not-for-profit organisation. Its mandate is to favour the integrated management and sustainable development of the St. Lawrence River and of the resources that are found on its territory, all of it with a participative approach. The Comité ZIP Ville-Marie is part of a network of 14 others ZIPs that are scaterred along the St. Lawrence River and that are overlooked by Stratégies Saint-Laurent ( www.strategiessl.qc.ca ).