Today’s post comes from our friends at the Invasive Species Centre.
The beauty of a hike does not need to be enjoyed alone; your dog can be a great companion as you adventure through your favourite park.
Do it well by planning before stepping foot, or paw, on the trail.
You’ve finished cleaning up your yard and now have a pile of branches and leaves to dispose of.
Sending organic materials to the dump may cost you money and increases the amount of methane released into the atmosphere.*
Wouldn’t it make sense to take it to a local green space to decompose naturally?
While we understand how people might think this is a good idea, yard waste that has been dumped in our protected areas puts park habitats at risk.
Read on to find out why.
This blog comes from Algonquin Provinical Park’s team of biologists and ecologists.
Algonquin is a stronghold of headwaters.
Most of our lakes are fed by cold, clean water that bubbles up from the ground. That water flows out of the park and feeds countless lakes and streams in southern Ontario.
One of the goals in establishing the boundaries of the park was to protect those headwaters…because if headwaters become compromised, so too does everything downstream.
That strategy has worked remarkably well in the park’s 125-year history.
Unfortunately, last year we made a devastating discovery.
Continue reading Invader alert! Help us stop the Spiny Waterflea!
Ontario is home to more than 250,000 lakes, thousands of kilometres of streams and rivers, and more than 150 species of fish.
There are endless fishing opportunities at Ontario Parks, and dropping a line is a great way to connect with and learn about nature.
From Lake Trout to Brook Trout, Walleye to Northern Pike, we’ve got some of the best recreational fishing opportunities in the world!
But before you head out to hook a big one, let’s talk about some of the dos and don’ts of using live bait in Ontario Parks:
Continue reading The dos and don’ts of using live bait in provincial parks
Invasive species are among the greatest threats to the survival of Ontario’s native animal and plant life. They are also costly to manage, harmful to international trade, and a risk to human health.
Become an Invasive Species Fighter, and help us stop their arrival and spread.
Your training begins now…
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.
A new invasive species threat is closing in on Ontario, and we’re calling on you (yes, you!) to help keep it at bay.
Spotted Lanternfly threatens many of our native tree species, including maples, poplars, pines, and cherries. Grape vines are also susceptible to this pest.
We need our community scientists around the province to report sightings of the Spotted Lanternfly’s partner-in-crime: Tree of Heaven.
In today’s post, Protected Areas Intern Katelyn Vardy highlights a few of the projects that staff have completed to improve and maintain the ecological integrity in southeastern parks.
When you’re standing in a favourite nature spot or within a park, it’s easy to embrace the beauty and calmness that surrounds you.
While campers and day trippers enjoy all that parks have to offer, behind the scenes are teams of staff working incredibly hard. Their work helps to protect these areas so that they can be enjoyed for years to come.
Here’s a look at some of the projects that we have completed to support the ecological integrity of southeastern parks.
Today’s post comes from our friends at the Invasive Species Centre.
Ontario is home to wonderful lakes, rivers and streams. Unfortunately, some of these waterways are home to aquatic invasive species such as Zebra or Quagga Mussels.
These species can be spread from one waterbody to another through watercraft that have not been properly cleaned, drained and dried between uses.
Continue reading Be an invasive species fighter! Clean, drain, dry your boat
Provincial parks are not islands.
Well, some of them are. What we mean is: there is no invisible wall around parks limiting their relationships with the outside world.
Even if you never visit a park, you benefit from the pollinator diversity they protect, the CO2 they sequester in wood, roots, and peat, and the clean water filtered by protected wetlands.
Plants, animals, fungi, microbes, water, and air move in and out of protected spaces, with intimate connections on both local and global levels.
In the same way, things that happen outside of park boundaries affect the ecosystems within them. What you do at home, work, or play can impact our parks.
Whether you live next door to a park or 100 km away, here are six ways your everyday actions can help keep parks and nature reserves healthy and biodiverse:
