Fostering Stewardship and Conservation within the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System

 – On behalf of its partners the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System, Royal Botanical Gardens is pleased to announce a new grant from the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation to support working with private landowners in the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System area to encourage and support ecological stewardship and conservation.

The grant will be used to support a full-time Watershed Stewardship Technician with the Hamilton-Halton Watershed Stewardship Program (HHWSP). The HHWSP is a voluntary program that has engaged private landowners in ecological stewardship for the past 20 years. The new Watershed Stewardship Technician will focus on the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System area, helping private landowners to identify and implement ecological stewardship projects on their properties.

The grant will also be used to fund a part-time Land Securement Coordinator for the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System, who will help private landowners explore options for long-term conservation of their properties and, where there is interest on the part of the landowners, develop mutually beneficial conservation arrangements.

“The Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System is about building connections – between natural areas to ensure their long-term sustainability and between people and organizations, because we often can do more together than we can on our own,” said Dr. David Galbraith, Chair of the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System’s Management Committee and Head of Science at Royal Botanical Gardens. “The new funding from the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation will allow us to work more closely with private landowners to enhance and expand green space and wildlife habitat in the ecopark system area.”

“One of the strengths of the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System is that it is a collaboration of several different organizations, all working together to care for and protect valuable natural heritage. Working with private landowners extends and enhances this collaboration, increasing capacity to restore and preserve greenspace while providing meaningful opportunities for community members to join in these efforts,” said the Honourable Ted McMeekin, MPP for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale.

The Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System is one of Canada’s biodiversity hotspots, home to more than 1,500 species of plants and animals, including nearly one quarter of Canada’s wild plants. Located in the midst of the vibrant Hamilton-Burlington urban area, it is also one of Canada’s largest urban parks, comprising almost 1,900 hectares (4,700 acres) of natural lands and open space connecting the Niagara Escarpment to Hamilton Harbour. 

The ecopark system lands are owned and managed by ten local government and non-profit partners who have committed to work together to protect, connect and restore the extraordinary natural heritage in the ecopark system area. The vision of the ecopark system is that it will be known internationally as a protected, permanent and connected natural lands sanctuary from the Harbour to the Escarpment that promotes ecosystem and human health within Ontario’s Greenbelt.

The Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation has been an important supporter of the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System. A non-profit organization, the Foundation operates independently from the government to coordinate and fund activities that bolster the richness of life in the Greenbelt. From supporting Niagara’s world-renowned viticulture, to promoting stewardship in agriculture, and restoring 4,700 acres of the most biologically rich wetlands in the country, the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation has funded and leveraged more than $45 million in innovative projects since 2005. Together with its grantees, the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation is committed to enhancing the quality of life for all Ontarians for today and tomorrow.