The province is funding the construction of two projects in Thunder Bay to help our local waterways and educate about climate change’s affects on Lake Superior.

The Lakehead Region Conservation Authority and Lakehead University are each getting over $47,000 through the Great Lakes Local Action Fund.

Gail Willis, the Watershed Manager with the LRCA, explains construction of a Climate Change Awareness Park at Fisherman’s Park West will start in September.

The plan was announced earlier this year, and Willis says the work should be finished by the end of November.

“We’re hoping to do some volunteer events and school events in October to plant the area,” she notes.

It will also involve expanding the habitats for land- and shore-dwelling wildlife.

“We will be incorporating a wetland enhancement, doing some shoreline rehabilitation along the lake, and re-vegetating to include a pollinator garden within the site,” Willis explains.

The LRCA is coordinating with Lakehead University for the project, while the school will be creating its own Climate Change Park on campus at the McIntyre River.

Matawa First Nations Management got $44,700 from the fund to build capacity of four of its member First Nations in the Lake Superior watershed to do water quality monitoring, and “integrate traditional knowledge with scientific data to support restoration actions.”