The Young Rainbow Warrior鈥檚 Society is the partial recipient of a large grant awarded to them from the College of New Caledonia鈥檚 Research Forest Society (CNCRFS).
The grant is called the Legacy Fund and targets any projects that focus on environmental management and resource sustainability or preservation, as well as outreach programs that can work toward this.
The award amount was originally $90,000 but was split into two鈥�$45,0000 for each group鈥攖o be given to both the Young Rainbow Warriors Society of the Lakes District, and the District of Mackenzie for their project.
鈥淲hat we proposed is that we already had the support from the community forest, and the Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake. We had already gotten grants from them to develop a permaculture food forest. And that鈥檚 not traditional farming,鈥� said Dawn Belcourt, co-founder of Young Rainbow Warriors Society.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 actually going back to traditional practices of utilizing different food groups, and growing different foods on different mounds,鈥� she said.
Mounds are what are used in permaculture growing design, and they are typically filled with compostable materials that will help plants grow better. It鈥檚 also known as h眉gelkultur, which comes from eastern European and German traditions.
In this case, Young Rainbow Warriors Society plans to be environmentally friendly by using old, decaying wood which has turned grey. It鈥檚 not usable for much else, so placing it inside large berms, then layering branches and wood chips on top of it, 鈥渨ith only a little bit of soil,鈥� is a way to imitate what nature is already doing, but use it to human advantage, said Belcourt.
And it鈥檚 ultimately organic, she added.
鈥淭hroughout the years, the mounds are creating soil just like the forest does, and so we are gardening without pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides,鈥� said Belcourt.
鈥淎nd we are learning how to make a permaculture garden during climate change. We鈥檙e learning how to adapt to extreme weather change鈥� like drought and floods. We鈥檙e really working with nature, as opposed to trying to dominate it,鈥� she said.
Up until now, most of the Young Rainbow Warrior鈥檚 Society work in the Food Forest garden has been working on creating the infrastructure to run the gardening program for youth. Over the past few years, they鈥檝e been working the physical landscape, learning more about permaculture and h眉gelkultur themselves, and relying on mainly family and friends to help along the way. They鈥檝e grown some things already, but this year they鈥檙e ready to go big, said Belcourt.
This summer, they鈥檒l hire 5-10 youth between the ages of 15 and 30 to work in the garden. And those youth will gain on-the-ground training, as well as grow, process and take to market what they grow.
And then next year, the Society will start building a year-round greenhouse, which may lean into the following in terms of its construction.
In the third year from now鈥攂ecause the proposal they submitted to CNCRFS involved a three year plan鈥攖hey鈥檒l create an art gallery that functions as a business management education centre for aspiring youth, as well a public outreach centre.
Belcourt hopes the project will bring many levels of healing to the young people who participate, including around some of the modern problems.
鈥淭he young people just love their devices, and their cell phones鈥�. So that鈥檚 another wonderful aspect, is getting them to put down the device, get their hands dirty, and engage in real reality, not just virtual reality. That鈥檚 another bonus,鈥� she said.
The Young Rainbow Warriors Society was founded in 2014 by Belcourt and Eugene Brown. To find out more, follow them on their Facebook page. She thanks CNCFRS for the Legacy Fund, as well the Community Forest of 亚洲天堂 Lake, the Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake, and the Office of the Wet鈥檚uwet鈥檈n Hereditary Chiefs for sharing their traditional territory for her project.
