Nature Guardians Candle Campaign

For Ontario Nature’s 80th birthday, we are selling virtual birthday candles in support of our Nature Guardians program, which connects kids with nature in order to plant the seed of conservation in every participating child and teenager. These kids are tomorrow’s environmental leaders.

So give a kid a candle!

For only $10, you can purchase a candle and connect a kid with nature.

For $80, you can purchase a box of 10 candles and connect 10 kids with nature.

Every candle purchased will be recognized on our website.

When you buy a candle (or 10 candles!) please include a story about a childhood experience you had with nature that we can post. We would love to hear from you!

Please give a kid the gift of nature – every candle helps.

Ontario Nature is grateful to everyone who lit a birthday candle connecting children and teens to nature. Our Nature Guardians program plants the seed of conservation in tomorrow’s environmental leaders.

113birthday candles have been lit.

Click here to read a letter from Moe Qureshi, Nature Guardian Youth Council Member.

Your stories

"Where I grew up in Quebec there was a forest with a river winding through it, just down the street from our house. We used to play there a lot and see all kinds of interesting birds, animals, trees and plants. There was an older kid who lived next door, he had a BB gun and it would make us so angry when he would shoot at Great Blue Herons flying overhead. Once he caught a squirrel and was keeping it in a wire cage in his backyard. Its head was bleeding because it kept running into the wire mesh trying to escape. My friends and I conspired on how to set it free but the kid’s mother came out and yelled at us. She wouldn’t let it go. So another adult in the neighbourhood came over to talk to us and see what was going on. When she found out, she was angry too and praised us for getting involved. She went over and told the kid’s mother it was illegal to keep a wild animal in a cage and she would call the police if they didn’t let it go. So the squirrel was finally free. We never saw him keep another animal in a cage."

"Our family travelled the 400 and other highways to our Muskoka cottage. If my father saw a turtle attempting to cross the highway, he would pull over and we’d put it on the back floor of the car and bring it to our safe laze. This care for small creatures is an example of how my parents inspired me with a love for nature."

"As a child, 6-8 years, my father and I would walk in the woods in spring looking for jack in the pulpits. I believed a little person lived in the plant. He identified so many wild flowers. It was always a wonderful outing."

"To a child growing up in Scotland we lived within walking distance of Hogganfield Loch. There were numerous birds around but the swans were spectacular."

"I was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland – a big city full of smog and grime. Once a year my family would take a trip or paddle steamer on the River Clyde. The steamer would be surrounded and followed by a crowd of gulls and smaller seabirds throughout the trip. I loved them! To this day when I see gulls and shorebirds, it takes me back to that annual trip."

"When my foreman on an Ontario Hydro grounds crew thought it was acceptable and humorous to run down young rabbits with his tractor/mower several young trimmers stood in front of the equipment and refused to move. Despite his screams of protest to have us all fired we held out and were lauded by management. Protests worked…bunnies survived!"

"While working in a wooded area stop to use your eyes – observe closely."

"I became interested in birds and nature when I first saw cardinals when I moved to Pickering. My interest in cardinals led to a trip to Pelee where I was amazed by all these colourful yellow birds, orange birds that I had never noticed before. After that I was hooked!"

"As a 10 year old, I was walking home from choir practice. I met up with 4 young foxes and played with them for two or three hours. The mother sat on the hillside beside watching us, but accepting it. I was very late for my supper that evening and my own mother was not as accepting of my tardiness."

"Aged about 13 years I was encouraged to collect, press and identify wild flowers for a wild flowers calendar through a year. I loved doing this and it gave me a lifelong interest in plants and wild flowers."

"On a canoe trip in 1976 to Algonquin Park through Opeongo Lake (never had been in a canoe before), I was so pleased to be able to identify a “sparrow”. Our 16 year old guide (one of two) nicely informed me that there are many different kinds of sparrows. This fantastic trip opened my eyes to nature and sparked my interest in wild flowers, especially in my garden."

"When I was quite young I would go exploring a wetland near our home with neighbourhood kids (on our own!). We would collect some tadpoles and I would just bring home a few. I even had tiny toadlets develop! I tried each spring to explain to my neighbour why he should not bring home a wagon-full of tadpoles, all of which eventually died. He never did listen to me, but since then I have always been interested in all types of wildlife and I became a veterinary technician."

"Family camping at Point Pelee as a boy in the mid 50s to mid 60s."

"Girl Guide Camp: in my teens - sleeping under the stars and cooking breakfast on an open fire and also cooking dinner in foil in the hot fire embers – Now I have three granddaughters and the 5 year old is really keen on birding and wants to feed the chickadees from her hand. It’s great to see young kids enjoying nature."

"I remember an amazing overnight camp in grade 1 (this would have been in the late 1970s) where we did nature study including identifying plants and building lean-to shelters. The forest always looked different to me after that. It would have been ambitious programming with 6-year-olds, but it was worth it!" - Amy

"As a farmer's daughter, nature was always around me, part of us - our family farm depended on working in harmony with nature every single day. I loved the smell of spring when the planting started and soil was being tilled, the summer when the seeds started to grow and flower, the fall with the beautiful colours and the smells of a bountiful harvest and the peaceful rest of winter when nature took a rest. We are blessed in Ontario to have four wonderful seasons. Nature at it's best!" - Barbara

"Growing up in the city, I didn't get to experience nature very much as a child. But it's different for my two sons who are never more happy than when they're splashing in an Ontario lake or wandering along woodland trails or having an unexpected encounter with wildlife. As a parent, watching them at play in the great outdoors is one of my greatest pleasures." - Victoria

"We spent every childhood summer holiday in the southwest of Ireland where my mother's family lives. Almost every waking hour was devoted to exploring the small pools along the rocky shore. I didn't learn about nature from books but from probing the depths and watching crabs, fish and shrimp scuttle and dart, seeking food or avoiding becoming someone else's dinner. After a good storm there'd be new things in our pools -- small eels and other creatures from deeper waters. Today there is nothing more deeply relaxing than messing around in the same pools I knew as a kid." - Caroline

"I might have been referred to as a wild child. I was always out doors. My favourite days were spent barefoot, waiting for a chipmunk to surface,climbing every tree I could in the neighbourhood or camping in the neighbour's yard. I picked up a few stray and homeless animals along my way. As a child I didn't have a lot of oportunity to experience rural Ontario but when I did I was in my glory. One of my favourite memories is an overnight school trip which took us to Boyne River. We studied the local tails and caves and much of the flora and fauna that could be found there. I was eleven and it was one of the best times of my young life. In my adult life I have been fortunate enough to make up for a lot of lost time. I began to canoe Ontario's parks in my 20's and now, in my 40's my spouse and I have a property three and a half hours north of Toronto which is surrounded by crown land. My sincere wish is that today's youth will recognize the great beauty and fragility in nature and in doing so strive to protect and nurture it." - Karen

"My brother and I spent many hours as children learning about nature from the late Geoff and Ruth Walker at their property on Lake Huron. We always looked forward to arriving at their home, often late on a Friday evening, to go with Geoff and his old ghetto blaster to the edge of the woods on their property to call owls. There is something about the haunting call of the screech owls that still gives me the chills. We were often able to draw them into nearby tree tops. Our days with them were always busy - planting trees, combing the shores of the lake and hiking in the nearby woods. The Walkers shared their vast knowledge instilling a deep appreciation of the natural world that the two of us have continued in our professions." - Clare

"In the fall of 1950, my family moved to a new subdivision surrounded by grassy hills and wooded ravines in northern California. That year must have been a peak one for meadow mice and voles, because I remember great horned owls on every telephone pole. Our favorite walk throughout that winter was down a creek valley lined with evergreen laurel trees with big gnarled roots. The combination of the creek, massive tree roots and the hooting owls was mysterious and magical and made me want to look for the hidden jewels in nature for the rest of my life." - Nancy

If you would like more information about the Nature Guardians program contact Sarah Hedges, Nature Guardians coordinator, at sarahh@ontarionature.org.