Kawartha Land Trust (KLT) has established a memorial forest in a protected nature reserve in Peterborough County, where donors to the land conservation charity can have a loved one’s name included on a memorial sign that they can visit throughout the year.
KLT held an opening ceremony last Friday (September 27) for the new Roussel-Steffler Memorial Forest located within KLT’s Roussel-Steffler Memorial Sanctuary in Douro-Dummer Township.
The Roussel-Steffler family donated their 102-acre property — which includes forests and a section of a provincially significant wetland — to KLT in 2023, in honour of the late Paul Roussel who had cared for the property for decades.
Along the edges of the now-protected forest are trees that the Roussel-Steffler family — Roussel and his wife Marlene and their sons Dan and Mike — planted during the 40 years they owned the property as they worked to reforest sections of their land.
KLT will continue the reforestation of sections of the nature sanctuary through memorial forest plantings of native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers in the retired agricultural field.
“From the growing community of understorey plants to the eventual towering canopy, we’re building toward a forever forest here,” said KLT’s land stewardship manager Hayden Wilson during the opening ceremony of the memorial forest.
Other speakers at the opening ceremony included KLT’s executive director John Kintare and donor relations coordinator Oriona Rendon as well as Mary Anne Caibaiosai, a knowledge keeper originally from Wiikwemkoong unceded territory (Manitoulin Island), who spoke about connecting to those who have passed through nature and the nature of grief. Douro-Dummer Township mayor Heather Watson also attended the ceremony.
KLT unveiled the Roussel-Steffler Memorial Forest sign during the ceremony. For a donation to KLT of $100 or more, members of the public can protect nature in memory of a loved one and can choose to have their loved one’s name included on the memorial sign, which will be updated each year. KLT will hold an annual ceremony at the Roussel-Steffler Memorial Forest each fall to honour and remember those recognized on the sign.
“When my father died unexpectedly in 2020 I learned first-hand how touching it can be to know that other people are memorializing the ones we love,” Kintare said at the opening ceremony. “I also learned how difficult it can be to come together to remember, especially when our loved ones are laid to rest far away. KLT’s Roussel-Steffler Memorial Forest provides this space.”
Founded in 2001, KLT currently protects 43 properties that include more than 7,350 acres of ecologically diverse lands, some of which are open to the public to hike or enjoy nature. Donors can visit the Roussel-Steffler Memorial Forest any time throughout the year to walk the grounds, visit the memorial sign, and remember their loved one.
To make a donation in memory of a loved one, visit kawarthalandtrust.org/you-can-help/giving-in-memory/. Donations to KLT will support the reforestation of the Roussel-Steffler Memorial Forest and other priority land protection and stewardship projects in the Kawarthas.
“I am so grateful to the Roussel-Steffler family for making this possible through their generous donation of the land,” Kintare said. “I hope this property becomes a place of memory and celebration for our community.”
