Green Acreages Opens the Door for Connecting and Healing

Spending time outdoors, stewarding the landscape and reconnecting with nature has the potential to heal us, physically and mentally. That is certainly true for Tammie Diesel, who participated in the Green Acreages program this year.

“I have health issues, and the one place I always receive healing is on the land,” Tammie explains. “As an Indigenous person, anytime I can be outside and get the roar of the world out of my head and hear the trees, that is healing.”

Tammie was raised living off the land, which taught her a deep respect for the planet. Still, she needed some guidance when it came to making improvements to her property. That’s where Green Acreages comes in. While many people are interested in increasing biodiversity, working with the natural flow of water and being conscientious stewards of the land, they don’t always know where to start. According to Tammie, this can end up limiting people.

While she participated in Green Acreages workshops and accessed the program resources, the best resource, she says, was her first phone call with Milena McWatt, the Green Acreages program coordinator.

“That was the best resource for me,” says Tammie. “It helped me to focus on what could be done.”

Equipped with the knowledge and information provided by Green Acreages, she is building a bioswale on her property, as well as a rain garden and will continue to install exclusion fencing. Thanks to Green Acreages funding through the Government of Alberta’s Watershed Resilience and Restoration Program, she was able to focus on improving the natural water flow on her property.

Landowners want to know how to make their land work for them in the present, but stewardship goes beyond the here and now. It means working with the land so it continues to thrive.

“It’s important that the land is there for future generations,” Tammie adds.

The Green Acreages program is a valuable resource for landowners and one Tammie says she hopes continues empowering and educating stewards.