TerraHumana Solutions Completing Phase II of the Environmental Contaminants and Health Impact

PROJECT (ECHIP) in Kanesatake.

TerraHumana Solutions is pleased to be completing Phase II of the Environmental Contaminants and Health Impact Project (ECHIP) in the Kanien'kéha:ka community of Kanesatake, situated about 48 kilometres west of Montreal. This second phase focuses on interviewing participants for a Human Health Risk Assessment to understand the potential health impacts of environmental contaminants that may be present on the territory. Valerie Gabriel, one of our local consultants and strategic partners, is learning the lab techniques necessary for testing the environmental samples collected in 2021 with our academic partner, Dr. Niladri Basu, at McGill University's Center for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment. As TerraHumana Solutions continues to work with Ratishontsanonhstats Kanesatake Environment on this first nation community-led project, "we are finding that Kanesatake is a unique community in many ways compared to other First Nations communities across Canada," says Dr. Isabelle Bisson

This project began when Dr. Isabelle Bisson met the environmental director, Eugene Nicholas, along with Mary Nicholas, the Assistant Researcher, and Gabrielle Lamouche, the communications officer of the Ratishontsanonhstats Kanesatake Environment, through her volunteer work with Sierra Club Quebec. Shortly after meeting, they applied to a Health Canada grant that was turned down but then partnered with Dr. Nildari Basu on a application to the First Nations Environmental Contamination Program in 2018 (First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Government of Canada), which was successful. Since then, a second and third leg of funding has been received; Phase III of ECHIP starts in the fall and will continue until spring 2023. "Participants of the Kanesatake community are forthcoming and have been inspiring to interview," says Dr. Bisson. Tess Lalonde and Katie Chong, researchers on this community-led project, are a solid and cohesive part of the research team. "It's been amazing to get to know more community members in Kanesatake and learn about the territory and their unique agricultural practices based on nature-based solutions”, says Dr. Isabelle Bisson.

About TerraHumana Solutions

TerraHumana Solutions is a consulting firm, which specializes in helping community and business leaders to find sustainable solutions to environmental and social issues. Our approach is simple - we listen. Bringing 20 years of international experience in natural resource sciences, strategy, project conception, and management, we can find the right strategic approach for you. At TerraHumana Solutions, we contribute to informed decision-making on community and business engagement projects, and conservation projects with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.

For more information, please contact:

Isabelle-Anne Bisson, PhD.

President

TerraHumana Solutions

+1 514 654-7835

ibisson@terrahumanasolutions.com

TerraHumana Solutions is helping the Comité pour la conservation des boisés du chemin Saint-Bernard

to a protect natural space in the municipality of Châteauguay

TerraHumana Solutions is pleased to be working on a new project helping citizens protect a natural space targeted for a residential development project that will include 290 detached, semi-detached, and contiguous single-family housing units in Châteauguay. The Comité pour la conservation des boisés du chemin Saint-Bernard is a grassroots organization of local concerned citizens who do not want to see the destruction of this natural space in their community. According to Chantal Payant, a member of the citizens' group, working to protect and preserve this wooded area is a challenge. The Legacy Fund for the Environment, first contacted by Mrs. Payant, was the organization that referred TerraHumana Solutions to assist in conducting fauna and flora surveys. Three site visits have been conducted since mid-May. "Within this short amount of time, we inventoried many species at risk, including a Threatened migratory bird (protected under Canada's Species at Risk Act or SARA)," says Dr. Isabelle-Anne Bisson. This ecological field study will be winding down with a bat survey conducted at the beginning of July, as this is an optimal time to study bats.

So many other grassroots organizations like this group are passionate and steadfast; their hard work and dedication hold all the qualities essential to this project's success. "Several communities are losing natural spaces inappropriately deemed not valuable ecologically. And like so many natural spaces in Quebec, the protection of this beautiful, wooded wetland in Châteauguay falls on the shoulders of citizens and grassroots organizations. Unfortunately, our federal and provincial government agents responsible for protecting our environment are simply too inundated," says Dr. Isabelle-Anne Bisson. The ongoing leadership and passion of the Comité pour la conservation des boisés du chemin Saint-Bernard are contributing to the well-being and quality of life for the residents of Châteauguay and all species that live and breed there.

About TerraHumana Solutions

TerraHumana Solutions is a consulting firm, which specializes in helping community and business leaders to find sustainable solutions to environmental and social issues. Our approach is simple - we listen. Bringing 20 years of international experience in natural resource sciences, strategy, project conception, and management, we can find the right strategic approach for you. At TerraHumana Solutions, we contribute to informed decision-making on community and business engagement projects, and conservation projects with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.

For more information, please contact:

Isabelle-Anne Bisson, PhD.

President

TerraHumana Solutions

+1 514 654-7835

ibisson@terrahumanasolutions.com

TerraHumana Solutions Invited to the 'All Hands on Deck' Webinar Series

of the Sierra Club Canada Foundation

In late March, Dr. Isabelle-Anne Bisson and Nathalie Gendron presented in a live webinar series titled All Hands on Deck with the Sierra Club Canada Foundation - a monthly webinar meant to address the biodiversity and climate crisis which humanity faces. Dr. Bisson and Ms. Gendron’s presentation, titled Protecting Avian Biodiversity: A Guide for Municipalities, discussed the plight of birds as well as the Migratory Birds Convention Act, an important Canadian law that protects migratory birds during their breeding season. The time of the webinar was à propos because late March is marked by the return of the very first early migratory birds (such as red-winged blackbirds).

The webinar began by declaring the unceded Indigenous lands and thanking the Indigenous representatives. It was one of the first presentations with live translation in both French and English.

Dr. Bisson began the presentation in English with an overview of the situation for birds at the global and national levels, specifically discussing the sobering data presented by the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Living Planet Reports in 2017 and 2020 as well as other seminal papers on diminishing avian populations. These reports have raised public awareness on the importance of protecting avian species. Ms. Gendron continued in French for the rest of the webinar, presenting success stories on bird protection in the cities of Vancouver and Toronto. She also covered the historical background of the first studies done by TerraHumana Solutions in 2018 funded by Bird Protection Quebec, which resulted in the current collaborative project between TerraHumana Solutions and SCCF - developing a guidebook for municipalities on how to best protect and conserve their avian populations.

Attendees (from Quebec and Ontario) seemed ready to act - most participants were citizens involved in grassroots movements. Questions included, “Are there studies on the impact of municipalities or citizens' activities on bird nesting habitats?”, “Do cat predation and building collisions have the same effect on bird populations in municipalities?”, and “Are TerraHumana Solutions working with the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP.org)?” During the Q&A, the attendees expressed a need for this guidebook ASAP.

“We want to thank and acknowledge SCCF, who made this webinar successful” saidDr. Isabelle Bisson.

Want to learn more about this webinar: Protecting Avian Biodiversity: A Guide for Municipalities?

Check it out in the link below.

https://www.sierraclub.ca/en/quebec-chapter/video/2022-05-09/protecting-avian-biodiversity-guide-municipalities-english

About TerraHumana Solutions

TerraHumana Solutions is a consulting firm, which specializes in helping community and business leaders to find sustainable solutions to environmental and social issues. Our approach is simple - we listen. Bringing 20 years of international experience in natural resource sciences, strategy, project conception, and management, we can find the right strategic approach for you. At TerraHumana Solutions, we contribute to informed decision-making on community and business engagement projects, and conservation projects with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.

For more information, please contact:

Isabelle-Anne Bisson, Ph.D.

President

TerraHumana Solutions

+1 514 654-7835

ibisson@terrahumanasolutions.com