The City of Weyburn has declared June 19 to 25 as Native Prairie Appreciation Week.
Initiated by the Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan (SK PCAP) and declared as the third week of June by the Saskatchewan Ministries of Agriculture and Environment since 1999, Native Prairie Appreciation Week (NPAW) is dedicated to raising awareness and appreciation of native prairie ecosystems and their importance to Saskatchewan's provincial, environmental and agricultural sectors.
This year marks the 13th annual NPAW. SK PCAP is encouraging all Saskatchewan residents to get outside and explore native prairie.
Grasslands are one of the world's most threatened ecosystems, making them a conservation priority. In North America, tall-grass prairie has been reduced to one percent, and mixed-grass and short-grass prairie to 20 to 30 percent of their former range, together exceeding losses reported for any other major ecological community on the continent.
In Saskatchewan, it is estimated that between 17 and 21 percent of the original native prairie remains intact.
SK PCAP is a diverse partnership that consists of 32 groups representing producers, industry, multi-sector federal and provincial agencies, non-government organizations, research agencies and Saskatchewan's two universities and is chaired by the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association (SSGA).
