At the end of the summer, 3Ecologies lost its closest local collaborator. Rémi Roy had a deep knowledge of the forest shaped by indigenous knowledge handed down through his mother and honed by years working in the bush. Rémi delighted in sharing his extensive knowledge of the forest ecology with 3E participants. Many will have precious memories of foraging trips with him to collect some of the bounty of the forest, especially berries and a wide variety of mushrooms. His attunement with the forest made him exquisitely sensitive to the changes from climate change that are already beginning to manifest themselves locally, and in this he was also our teacher. In addition, he was reputed in the village nearest 3E, his natal village of Sainte-Anne-du-Lac, Québec, as having the greenest thumb of all, and, with this deftness, he collaborated on extensive gardening projects on his own land and 3E land. Rémi died at the end of August at the age of 54. He is sorely missed.
Rémi bequeathed his land to the 3E nonprofit: a 100-year old family farm and surrounding land. It was a very difficult decision, but after much reflection the nonprofit’s board came to the conclusion that it could not effectively take care of a large agricultural allotment with buildings falling into disrepair from years of economic struggle. An element in that decision was that the land is not contiguous to 3E land, lying 15 km distant on the far side of the township. The decision was made to sell the land and to set the proceeds aside as a permanent endowment to support 3E activities into the future. Thus the Rémi Roy 3 Ecologies Fund was formed. The fund is not extensive (we plan to build on it through charity fund-raising), but it will provide a much-needed boost to 3E’s finances. Annual proceeds from the fund will be used prioritarily to subsidize visitors to 3E who lack other funding. Patreon remains essential to our ability to continue the 3E project. We enormously appreciate our Patreon contributor’s continuing help.
In selling the land, we put the priority on finding a buyer who shared Rémi’s ethos of care for the land and would not simply use it a real estate investment. Ultimately, the buyer we settled on was in fact a friend of Rémi’s. His neurodiversity and attunement to the land makes him a natural ally of 3E, with which he is keen to collaborate, following in Rémi’s footsteps.
Rémi was the inspiration for Erin Manning’s latest book Unsettled.
