2007 Stewardship Season

Members of the Beechwood stewardship team remove Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

Every year for the past eight years, the city has sponsored the Community Stewardship program. This program works with volunteers who manage a site that is undergoing environmental restoration. Activities include removing invasive plant species, watering planted trees and shrubs, and monitoring of plants, animals, and birds. There is also some monitoring performed of tiny aquatic creatures called benthic invertebrates.

The program started out in the Don Watershed but has since branched out to include two more sites, one at Eglinton Flats at Jane and Eglinton near the Humber River, and the other at the Humber Bay Butterfly Habitat which is at the mouth of Mimico Creek. The Don watershed sites include:

• Riverdale Farm Ponds
• Don Valley Brick Works
• Beechwood Wetland
• Nordheimer Ravine

Last year one of my volunteers started a weblog on the Beechwood Wetland site. This year another weblog has been started for the Riverdale Farm Ponds. Who knows maybe the rest of the teams will jump on the blog bandwagon too!

If you are interested in joining the program you can call the co-ordinator, Cheryl Post at 416-392-5323 or send her an email. Each team typically goes out once per week and works for about two hours. The work is fairly easy and it will get you outdoors. You may even learn something new about the natural environment.