Category: Ecological Integrity

Help us fill Breeding Bird Atlas gaps!

In today’s post, Ontario Parks Northeast Zone Ecologist Anna Sheppard is asking for your helping hands (actually, eyes. And ears.)

Planning to visit any of these northwestern parks this summer?

If so, and you’re a fan of birds, then I have a favour to ask!

These parks are especially important to the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas, and the atlas needs your help.

Continue reading Help us fill Breeding Bird Atlas gaps!

How to be a responsible mountain biker

Mountain biking is a great way to exercise and spend time surrounded by nature.

It can also have a huge impact on the environment.

We know Ontario Parks trails are a favourite among mountain bikers, so we wanted to share some of our best practices to protect where you bike.

Continue reading How to be a responsible mountain biker

Ontario Parks featured in CSA-nominated videos!

Did you know our parks, moths, and Discovery staff were featured in an episode of TVOKids Leo’s Pollinators Explorer Club?

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The series was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Children’s or Youth Non-Fiction Program or Series!

These awards are the Canadian equivalent to the Emmy Awards.

We caught up with our three Ontario Parks stars featured in this episode for an exclusive interview to learn more about their experience:

Continue reading Ontario Parks featured in CSA-nominated videos!

What makes the Great Lakes so great?

In today’s blog, Discovery Project Program Coordinator Jessica Stillman reflects on our mutual relationship with the Great Lakes.

Our human history is reflected in their waters.

The Great Lakes capture our past, influence our present, and inspire our future. 

Imagine the stories they could tell.

These bodies of water are called the Great Lakes for a reason: from their size (the largest surface freshwater system on Earth) to their role in our collective history, where do we even begin to share what makes them great?

Continue reading What makes the Great Lakes so great?

There’s no research like snow research

In today’s blog, Helen McConnell, a marketing and communications specialist at Algonquin Provincial Park, explains what “SNOW” is and how SNOW data is used to protect our parks and the species that live here.

On a chilly Monday in March, I found myself snowshoeing with our park biologist, loudly crunching through the snow as we followed a “snow course” through through the hardwood forest.

Continue reading There’s no research like snow research

Shortcuts? More like shore cuts!

Today’s post comes from Mikhaila Lafleur-Weidhaas, a park warden at Pancake Bay Provincial Park.

Two beach trails diverged at a dune, one well-travelled and clear — the other a shortcut. Do you take “the road most travelled?”

The coastal shores of Lake Superior, with its sand beaches and Caribbean blue water, have been a popular attraction to thousands, from nomadic voyagers to people looking for paradise close to home.

However, as people run to Ontario’s beaches looking for a staycation, more pressure is being placed on our sandy shores.

This increased pressure can cause a decline of these dynamic and rare freshwater coastal dune ecosystems.

Continue reading Shortcuts? More like shore cuts!

Your purchase helps parks: plotting Charleston Lake’s Pitch Pines

Provincial parks are home to some of the most beautiful and diverse landscapes in Ontario.

They protect unique plant and wildlife species, some of which cannot be found anywhere else in the province!

Thanks to the proceeds from our 2021 online holiday store, our staff are hard at work on ecological integrity projects that help these species, like finding Pitch Pine at Charleston Lake Provincial Park.

Continue reading Your purchase helps parks: plotting Charleston Lake’s Pitch Pines

Your purchase helps parks: revitalizing Killarney’s aquatic ecosystems

Did you buy something from our online holiday store last year? In today’s post, Ontario Parks staff talk about some of the vital protection work your purchase helped fund!

Ontario Parks — as part of a bigger provincial effort — has been working hard to assess and repair ecological integrity in many of our inland lake habitats, protecting different species throughout Killarney and other provincial parks.

Continue reading Your purchase helps parks: revitalizing Killarney’s aquatic ecosystems

Enhancing biodiversity in Killarney’s tree plantations

This article was written by Connor Oke, a marketing intern at Ontario Parks, using information provided by Ed Morris, Ontario Parks’ northeast zone ecologist. 

When Killarney Provincial Park was established in 1964, park managers faced a problem: what to do with old fields belonging to former homesteads within the park’s boundaries.

To prevent the spread of weedy species, they decided to plant trees, including White Spruce and Red Pine, and regrow the forests.

Continue reading Enhancing biodiversity in Killarney’s tree plantations