Turning a love for the outdoors into a commitment to conservation

Philip Holsgrove grew up hunting, fishing and camping in Quebec’s boreal forests and he raised his own family the same way. “We love nature and use our spare time to get into nature,” he says. “We’ve always travelled around to camp in the national parks and taken the kids fishing and hunting.”

From the age of five to 18, Holsgrove attended an annual fishing camp deep in northern Quebec. “We had three hours of driving on gravel roads, an hour of walking and a 30-minute canoe paddle to get to the campsite,” he remembers. “When you’re out in nature like that, you’re really out there with the moose and the bears — and the ducks! Those were fun moments for me.”

A changed landscape

Unfortunately, the remote, spruce-lined oasis that Holsgrove and his childhood friends once enjoyed has been completely logged. “It’s not the same place anymore. Before, the lake was surrounded by trees, but now the road goes right up to the banks,” he says.

Experiencing the loss of a beloved natural area makes Holsgrove’s conservation work personal. He and his wife have purchased over 200 acres (81 hectares) of land that includes a wetland which was once a part of a nearby municipality’s water source. Their property is flanked by farms. “Because we own that land privately, we can protect the area and the wildlife,” says Holsgrove. “We’ll be able to enjoy hunting on the property while preserving the wetland there.”

Hitting the ground running with DUC

Holsgrove started volunteering with Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) in 2024. His father had been involved with DUC in the past, but Holsgrove hadn’t considered volunteering himself until a hunting special on television caught his attention.

“I was watching this hunting show with my son. My wife, Myriam, said Ducks Unlimited made it,” he says. “We’d been wondering how we could get involved in giving back to the community, and that night Myriam asked, ‘Why don’t we get involved with Ducks?’”

Last June, Holsgrove organized and hosted the first-ever Duck and Run in Quebec at Grand Héron Park in Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier. “It was a great first run for the province,” he says. “It felt good to see all the different people show up, from kids to families. We had prizes, and people weren’t expecting that. It was great to see how happy people were when they crossed the finish line.”

The run’s success inspired DUC volunteers in the Montreal area to set up another Duck and Run event for their region this coming year. This June, Holsgrove will organize a second annual Duck and Run in Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jaques-Cartier in addition to supporting the new Montreal event.

Planting seeds for the future

Holsgrove also participated in a tree-planting project that DUC kicked off in 2025 with support from Microsoft Canada, one of three wetland and water habitat development and restoration projects in the Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches regions. The initiative is part of a broader, multi-phase initiative to restore the Lorette River sub-watershed and mitigate flood risks.

Getting involved with the project gave Holsgrove the chance to start meaningful conversations about the work DUC does. “People asked me why I was going to plant trees in that area, and I was able to explain why we are trying to restore those spaces and why wetland conservation matters,” he says.

For Holsgrove, giving people a new perspective on the importance of conservation is one of the most rewarding aspects of volunteering with DUC. His goal is to raise awareness and promote education through his continued involvement with the organization.