Building Restoration Through Relationship: DERT’s Year of Community-Led Eco-Restoration

At North West Communities Management Company (NWC), we believe that true land stewardship is rooted in partnership — with the land, with knowledge-keepers, and with the communities who call the North home. This belief comes to life through Developing Eco-Restoration Together (DERT), a collaborative ecological restoration project led in partnership with NWC Environmental Services, Denison Mines Corporation, and the University of Saskatchewan.

DERT’s vision is clear: to weave together Indigenous knowledge, community leadership, and Western science to heal the land and strengthen our relationships with each other. This commitment is reflected throughout both the 2024 and 2023 DERT newsletters, which highlight a year of hands-on learning, community engagement, and restoration progress across northern Saskatchewan.

Honouring the Land Through Shared Knowledge

On page 1 of the 2024 newsletter, the DERT team emphasizes that the project is “rooted in respect for the land” and guided by Indigenous wisdom alongside Western science. This approach ensures that restoration is not only technically sound but culturally grounded — shaped by lived experience and community priorities.

This principle also appears throughout the 2023 newsletter, where the team reiterates that DERT is about “recognizing our interdependent relationship” with the land and working toward reconciliation through ecological care.

A Year of Action: Youth, Community, and Restoration in Motion

The 2024 newsletter features a collection of photos and updates showing just how active this year has been. Activities included:

🌱 Youth Hiring & Hands-On Land Work

Four local youth were hired to work at Mooshum’s Garden in Beauval and the Sakitawak Elders Garden in Île-à-la-Crosse, gaining hands-on experience in community food production and ecological care (page 2).

🌿 Eco-Restoration Field Trials

The team studied jack pine, blueberries, and moss as part of a multi-species restoration trial. This work helps determine sustainable, culturally significant plant species that thrive after disturbance (page 2).

🌸 Seed-Ball Making with Elders

At the Pinehouse Elders Gathering, participants created seed balls — a method that blends traditional planting knowledge with ecological restoration practices (page 2).

🏞 Community Gatherings, Gardening Days, and School Programs

DERT partnered with SAGE and Kineepik to host community garden days, youth science camps, and the Healing with the Land Grade 6 curriculum at Valley View School in Beauval (page 2). These programs reflect DERT’s focus on education, empowerment, and building ecological literacy at all ages.

Community Leadership and Advisory Guidance

One of the most important moments of the year came when the DERT Indigenous Advisory Board toured the Wheeler River site to review caribou habitat mitigation and restoration trials (page 2 of the 2024 newsletter). Their guidance ensures that restoration approaches reflect Indigenous priorities and cultural values.

The 2023 newsletter builds on this theme, showing DERT’s project cycle — from community presentations to engagement planning, eco-restoration trials, youth training, and collaboration with the Indigenous Project Advisory Board (page 2).

Strengthening Communities Through Partnership

Throughout both newsletters, the message is consistent: eco-restoration succeeds when communities lead the way.

DERT’s work in Beauval, Île-à-la-Crosse, Patuanak, and Pinehouse — highlighted on page 1 of the Fall 2023 newsletter — shows deep community involvement in trials, events, and planning sessions. The DERT team expresses gratitude for these community members whose knowledge and participation make the project possible.

These partnerships demonstrate what is possible when industry, academia, and Indigenous communities collaborate with respect and shared purpose.

Looking Ahead: A Growing Circle of Stewardship

DERT’s momentum continues to build. With increasing youth involvement, expanding field trials, and deeper relationships across the North, the project is shaping a new model for restoration — one built on reciprocity, cultural knowledge, and long-term community benefit.

As NWC, we are proud to support this work and excited to see how the project continues to grow. Together, we are not only restoring landscapes — we are strengthening identity, sovereignty, and the future of northern communities.

To view the pdf's, see the attached file.

DERT Newsletter Summer 2024.pdf

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