KAWARTHA LAKES-Kawartha Land Trust (KLT) and the Greenbelt Foundation announceD a new partnership to restore and steward vital ecosystems along sections of the Oak Ridges Moraine located in the City of Kawartha Lakes and Peterborough County.
KLT, the Kawarthas’ regional charitable land trust, received a two-and-a-half-year investment of $141K from the Greenbelt Foundation to support the restoration of 75 acres of forest and a 10-acre expansion of the tallgrass prairie at KLT’s Ballyduff Trails nature reserve – all located along sections of the moraine located in the Kawarthas.
This partnership builds upon the Greenbelt Foundation’s commitment to protecting and enhancing Ontario’s Greenbelt – two million acres of protected land that provides clean air, fresh water, climate resilience, and a reliable food source to help Ontario thrive.
The restoration and expansion efforts will centre around Kawartha Land Trust’s popular Ballyduff Trails property, which is open to the public year-round, and private lands in the Fleetwood Creek watershed.
“Making long-lasting impacts on the landscape requires long-term support,” said Hayden Wilson, KLT’s Land Stewardship Manager. “This multi-year funding from the Greenbelt Foundation is the perfect opportunity to leverage our amazing staff and volunteer teams to make an impact on the land that will result in countless benefits for nature and local communities. We expect this project to engage people directly in conservation work that will affect ecosystem health in the region for decades to come.”
In addition to work at KLT’s Ballyduff Trails property, KLT will increase its impact on the landscape by building upon the organization’s network of existing relationships with private landowners through its Partners in Conservation program and local environmental organizations and businesses. Working together, we can increase natural cover in the area, support biodiversity, and contribute to regional climate resilience.
This fall, the KLT field team commenced with invasive species mapping work at KLT’s Ballyduff Trails nature reserve and neighbouring private lands.
“Invasive plant species are a major threat to the resiliency of forests in Ontario and in Canada more broadly,” shared Elliott Groen, KLT’s Sustainable Forestry Coordinator, a shared position with the Ontario Woodlot Association (OWA).
“Plants like Dog-Strangling-Vine prevent young trees from establishing themselves, meaning there is no future generation to replace trees lost to disease or age. The first part of our project is to map the presence of invasive plant species and patterns in relation to the native vegetation to inform the strategic implementation of best management practices that will improve the forests’ resiliency now and in the future.”
