Some people, though sympathetic to our environmental challenges, hold back, feeling that their individual efforts may not matter. But one person truly can make a difference.
As one of many volunteers helping to create the first pollinator mini-forest in Mono, I had the good fortune to meet owner Shelly Candel, whose humble pursuit of her passions has touched countless lives and inspired many. Her story shows that dedication, no matter how modest, can have an extraordinary environmental impact.
Shelly studied agriculture at the University of Guelph. Her career began in research and evolved into entrepreneurship. However, her growing awareness of climate change and biodiversity loss drove her toward environmental action. Wanting to make a difference by connecting people to organic food and sustainable agriculture, she established a successful farmers’ market at Edwards Gardens in Toronto.
It was at this market that she met a beekeeper, learning about pollinators and their vital role in our ecosystems. This discovery planted the seeds for a new journey. In 2015, after learning about Bee City USA, she was inspired to create Bee City Canada, and within a year, Toronto became Canada’s first Bee City. Over the next few years, the organization expanded to more than 100 affiliates across the country.
Moved by children’s eagerness to protect pollinators, she created the Bee City Ambassadors Program, reaching 50,000 Canadian students. In 2023, she and Gabriel Slater co-founded Bee Ambassadors Canada, a registered charity, to continue educating the next generation of pollinator advocates.
Her journey didn’t stop there. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she became fascinated with Miyawaki mini-forests, developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, advocating for dense tree spacing to accelerate forest growth. Inspired, she planted a 30-by-100-metre mini-forest with 900 native trees and shrubs on her land in Mono. This fall, with help from Ian Payne, a landscape architect, Owen Goltz, an organic soil consultant, myself, a retired arborist, and enthusiastic volunteers, including Greys for Green, her dream became a reality.
Shelly proclaimed that “some things were meant to ‘bee.’” The community involvement, especially from youth, made the experience deeply rewarding as they collectively created a lasting habitat for pollinators, helped to restore biodiversity, and a forest that will sequester tons of CO2.
For anyone feeling like “just one person,” she suggests learning from those already engaged in this work and believes that each step contributes to a greater whole. Her plans for more Miyawaki forests and continued work with Bee Ambassadors Canada stand as testament to how one person’s dedication can ripple outward, making a real and lasting difference for our environment.
John Wilson is a director of Greys for Green in New Tecumseth. He believes that a greater understanding and appreciation of nature is what’s needed to inspire everyone to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle. Contact Greys for Green at [email protected] or follow on social media.
