The Cootes to Escarpment Eco Park system got a major boost this week as part of $8 million in funding announcements made by Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, announced to protect and enhance three critical natural spaces in Ontario. These include:
Locally, more than $3.5 million will go to the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System. The developing greenspace stretches from the Western edge of Lake Ontario to the Niagara Escarpment. The pilot project, under the Parks Canada National Program for Ecological Corridors, will support the Royal Botanical Gardens of Burlington and Hamilton, Ontario and their partners to protect 2,200 hectares of land, to connect wildlife across a very urbanized landscape.
Nancy Rowland, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Botanical Gardens, noted This support will help us advance the management of ecological corridors that are vital for the survival of hundreds of plant and animal species, many of which are endangered.”
The other projects receiving funding include:
- More than $1.05M to better connect The Meadoway to Rouge National Urban Park with new and improved multi-use trails.
- $3.5 million through Nature Conservancy Canada to protect more habitat in areas within Ontario that have rich biodiversity like the Rice Lake Plains, the north shore of Lake Ontario and the Frontenac Arch Biosphere, one of Canada’s most important forest corridors that connects the northern forests of Algonquin Park with the Adirondack Mountains of New York State.
- $50,000 for the Algonquin to Adirondacks Collaborative, to support a road ecology study to determine wildlife protective measures around Ontario’s busy roadways.
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