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| Turtles Basking on Log - Photo: Doug Hamilton |
The Ministry of Natural Resources and a variety of partners are working together to improve 12 hectares of coastal wetlands and upstream marshes on two major Toronto-area rivers: the Humber and the Rouge.
In the marsh areas, the Ministry and its partners will create gentle slopes and shallow basins and add organic soil to recreate the contours of typical marsh landscapes. Small trees and shrubs will be planted to attract birds and other wildlife, but also to shade and cool water for fish. In agricultural areas, new fencing will prevent livestock from trampling stream banks and polluting the water.
Work crews will improve a total of 10 hectares of marsh habitat in the upper Humber and in the Rouge watersheds and one hectare each in the coastal marshes where each river empties into Lake Ontario.
The wetlands in both watersheds are high-profile natural areas because so little of original wetlands in the Toronto area have survived urbanization – less than 15 per cent. Coastal marshes, especially, are essential for the treatment and storage of surface and groundwater, stream flow, water quality and fish and wildlife habitat. These wetlands also create spawning, nursery and feeding areas for fish like bass, pike and perch, as well as habitat for wildlife.
Click here to view a map of the project area
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The Humber and Rouge: Two Living Watersheds
• Despite being surrounded and damaged by urban development, both the Humber and Rouge river watersheds still provide high-quality, coldwater habitat for fish.
• The Humber River watershed is home to more than 50 fish species, including brook trout, American brook lamprey … even Redside dace. The Humber’s coastal marshes are a nesting area for birds like the great blue heron and American coot and home to rare plant species, such as white sassafras and white dog’s tooth violet.
• The Rouge River watershed, which includes the Little Rouge branch, continues to increase its potential as prime fish and wildlife habitat. The Rouge’s coastal marshes, just upriver from Lake Ontario, are being brought back to health with plantings of wetland vegetation after being degraded by urban sprawl and flood water damage.
• Further upriver, the Rouge is bordered by valuable old-growth stands of native red oak and white pine, and rare prairie plant species. And in the Rouge’s cool headwaters, observers may spot brook trout, brown trout and rainbow trout.
Project Partners:
- Environment Canada Great Lakes Sustainability Fund
- Hamilton Conservation Authority
- Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation
- Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters
- Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
- Ontario Streams
- Toronto and Region Conservation
- Town of Richmond Hill
For more information, contact:
- Mark Heaton, Biologist, Ministry of Natural Resources, Aurora (905) 713-7406
- Alastair Mathers, Lake Ontario COA Basin Coordinator, Lake Ontario Management Unit, Ministry of Natural Resources, Picton (613) 476-8733