More than two dozen volunteers gathered at the C\u00f4te de l\u2019abattoir in Hawkesbury to take part in a mutual cleanup of the shoreline on both sides of the river. The Ottawa Riverkeeper environmental group organized the event in partnership with the three member regions of the Pacte d\u2019Amiti\u00e9.<\/p>\n
More than 1000 pounds of trash was collected, preventing it from entering the Ottawa River. The event also celebrated the three-year partnership between Ottawa Riverkeeper and Argenteuil, Papineau, and the United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR), the members of the Pacte d\u2019Amiti\u00e9.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is with great gratitude that I thank all the participants who made these cleanups a real success on both sides of the River,\u201d said UCPR Warden Normand Riopel of the United Counties of Prescott and Russell.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s activity was the end result of several years of collaboration between all the partners. Over the past three years, cleanups have been organized in all three regions, mobilizing and motivating local involvement. The mutual goal is to both engage in local conservation and environmental protection of the Ottawa River shoreline areas and serve as a united lobby to the Ontario and Qu\u00e9bec provincial governments for greater emphasis on policies to protect local waterways.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a pivotal time for environmental and water protection,\u201d said Laura Reinsborough, Ottawa Riverkeeper chief executive officer. \u201cAlthough the Ottawa River may act as a natural border separating Quebec and Ontario, it unites the people that live along it. We must come together to protect what we love, and we can\u2019t let boundaries divide us. The regions of the Pacte are blazing a trail for others to follow by demonstrating how working together despite belonging to different communities is beneficial for all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ottawa Riverkeeper promotes a view of water protection that takes in the entire Ottawa River watershed and the communities within that region. In a connected river system, what happens in one area of the watershed can affect the communities downstream. The conservation group credits the Pacte d\u2019Amiti\u00e9 for serving as an example of what can be achieved to protect the environment by reaching across municipal and provincial boundaries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There is less trash along the Ottawa River shoreline near Hawkesbury thanks to a weekend cleanup project. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":29670,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualites"],"acf":[],"featured_media_global":[],"yoast_head":"\n