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EVENTS AND FUNDRAISING

Geomatics workshop raises $1,666 for FwB!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On November 24th, 2015 Lim Geomatics Inc. held a one-day geomatics workshop with a focus on forest inventory in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The goal of the workshop was to teach participants the theory behind how area-based forest inventories are created from point cloud data derived from LiDAR or photogrammetry, and provide hands-on experience with creating them using Lim Geomatics’ newly developed LTKTM software. The Ontario Forestry Futures Trust, Canadian Wood Fibre Centre, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, and the Canadian Institute of Forestry (CIF) supported this workshop.

 

Dr. Kevin Lim is the President and Founder of Lim Geomatics Inc., which is one of Canada’s leading GIS consulting firms. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Lim Geomatics has been in business for over 10 years and is known as experts in and innovators of forestry geomatics technology. Kevin learned about Forests without Borders (FwB) through his attendance at various CIF events and liked the idea of giving back to a charity with their roots in forestry. “A general rule of thumb when organizing a workshop is to charge a nominal registration fee instead of adopting a free registration model. By doing so, you minimize the occurrences of ‘no shows’ to a workshop. Since our workshop was never intended to be a money making event, but instead a knowledge transfer and learning event, we thought it would be a good idea to donate the registration fees collected,” says Kevin.

 

Lim Geomatics reached its target of 25 workshop participants and was able to raise a total of $1,666 for FwB! This generous donation will help the FwB Ontario Caucus reach their target of $5000 to complete the funding of a tree nursery-expansion in Ghana. The first stage of this project was involved in training this Community to map their sacred forests (some of the last remnants of Africa’s primary forests) where they were then able to pinpoint degraded areas of forest for rehabilitation. These projects are helping young people develop technical skills to reduce out migration from rural communities by diversifying the local economy. Click here to learn more about this project. 

 

Lim Geomatics has a history of giving back to the community through sponsorship of local Ottawa events, such as the “24 Hours of Hockey for Wishes event,” a hockey marathon supporting the Make-A-Wish-Foundation for children suffering from life threatening medical conditions. It is also a Gold Sponsor for the “Christmas Exchange Program,” where its sponsorship dollars help provide 100 Ottawa families in need with food hampers at Christmas time. A summary of Lim Geomatics’ ‘Giving-back-to-our-Community’ can be seen here

 

Donating event registration fees to FwB is a great way to give back to the community and Lim Geomatics has set a great example for other organizations to follow.

FwB Film festivals a successful fundraiser Nationwide!

 

Four highly successful film festivals/film nights have been held recently in 2016. Three of these festivals were in Ontario in North Bay at Nipissing University (Jan 22-23), Thunder Bay at Lakehead University (Jan 30) & Pembroke at Algonquin College (March 31) & one festival was held in Edmonton, Alberta at NAIT college on April 7. All 4 of these festivals raised nearly $2000 for FwB!

 

All festivals showed a mix of short and long films from world renown "Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival" as well as a mix of unique guest speakers, many of which spoke about their experiences and involvement with FwB. All festivals/film nights were well attended and well received with a lot of student support from host schools and community support from attendees and local sponsors. All events were free with the idea that attendees would make a voluntary donation. The public was quite generous with their donations. 

 

Given the success of these events, we hope that students at host schools will carry the torch and continue the tradition of holding future film festivals/film nights annually. We also encourage others to organize a film festival in thier own school or home town with support from FwB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FwB/TreeFest Film and Speaker night in Ottawa

 

On October 6th, 2015 the Ontario Sections FwB Caucus and the Ottawa Valley Section of the CIF partnered with "TreeFest Ottawa" to hold "Trees for Life, Film and Speaker Night."

 

Held at Landsdowne Park in Ottawa, ON. Three award-winning films were screened. In addition, the renowned botanist and author Diana Beresford-Kroeger spoke about her views on the importance of forests to our health and about some individuals who have made large financial investments or have made huge accomplishments in the planting of trees around the world. 

 

The tree films shown were: "The Moving Forest" a fun Swiss film that celebrates our love of trees through the eyes of youth; "The Man Who Planted Trees" an artful Academy Award-winning Canadiana animation spanning much of the 20th Centur, set in a desolate area of France that is single-handedly reforested through the efforst of a visionary shepherd; and "Forest Man," similarly, a documentary set in northeast India that highlights the individual effort of one man in planting trees to successfully save an island from being eroded away by the Brahmaputra

River.

 

Attendance was respectable, techincal issues were

handlled successfully and the films and speakers were

very well received. Much was learned as the Ontario

Caucus moves forward with using film festivals as

a fund-raising tool.

UBC Forestry Students Support Forests without Border Through Christmas Tree Sales

 

For the love of trees, community, philanthropy and global sustainability, the UBC Forestry Undergraduate Society (FUS) - grow and sell Christmas trees.  All profits generated are donated and this year’s primary recipient was the CIF’s Forests without Borders. 

Sales and donations totaled $1600, with a total of 28 trees sold. Many of these were our live – potted collection, and a number of these were returned to cycle through another season of sales and fundraising. Our hearts have been warmed by all the families and individuals who came down to the farm to connect with the land and local community. In particular, the children’s love of the harvest and celebration of surrounding nature and farm life was one of the most beautiful aspects to encounter.

In combination with proceeds from the FUS Silent Bike Auction (where refurbished bikes were actioned off to students and faculty), we presented a cheque of $1132 to Forests without

Borders at the Vancouver Section’s

January CIF Dinner. We are excited to

offer future updates from projects that

have received funding from our initiative,

allowing us to create a direct link between

our patrons and beneficiaries. Please

check out our website in the fall for these

potential updates and next season’s sale

dates.

Website: http://ubcforestry.wix.com/xmastree

Mattawa Group Wins Youth Philanthropy Intiative

 

YPI serves as an opportunity for secondary school students to engage with local charities, find passion in philathropic work, empower youth to make a big change, and aquire skills in assessing the neesd of their given communities.  Groups of students find a charity for which they feel passionate about, interview members of the organization, and finally,

present to a panel of judges, their peers, teachers and other community members.
 

While all leave with a great sense of accomplishment, the grand prize is a $5000 award for the charity of the top group.  This year, a group of grade 10 students out of F.J. McElligott high school in Mattawa entered to compete in their school's Youth Philanthropy Initiative, representing Forests without Borders.  The group gave an engaging presentation, spreading the word, and amazing work, of Forests without Borders. While there was some stiff competition, the group came up on top, and was awarded $5000, all of which will go directly to Forests without Borders projects.  In addition to a fantastic presentation, the girls also did their own rendition of the popular song "Ho Hey", but the Lumineers, take a look, and listen here!  A job well done!

61st Algonquin Section International Night

 

CIF members and family gathered for a fun day at

Sugarstone Farm to see and sample maple syrup

being produced. Owners Andy and Shelley Straughn

showed us the operation of this family owned

business. The group were then entertained to dinner

and a talk about hiking and forests in Scotland. A small

silent auction was held to help raise funds for FwB.

Annual General Meeting of the Forest Professionals of Nova Scotia - March 21-22, 2013

 

This years AGM held in Truro, Nova Scotia marked the Nova Scotia Forest Technicians Association 50th Annual General Meeting!  Amidst some great presentations and live music, was a Forests without Borders Silent Auction.  With an array of great items up for action, including a paddle, a golf putter and multi tool, $1118 was raised for FwB!

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