Current Projects
Pollinator Roadsides
This is a new project that Waterloo Region Nature is leading. The verges along our expressways and regional roads constitute a large acreage, and are currently just mowed, providing no benefit for pollinators, birds and other animals. Our proposal is to plant these verges with wildflowers/native flowers in order to promote the three B’s (Beautification, Bees and Butterflies). The project supports the Region’s stated desire to be a Bee Region.
The project is led by Jennifer Leat and a working group which includes other members of WRN, members from the community and representation from the City of Kitchener. The plan is to undertake pilot plantings in a trial area to demonstrate the potential, determine the best methods, and enable the public to see the benefits. Ultimately, the hope is that the Region/Cities will adopt this as their on-going management of roadside verges.
We have been awarded a grant from the Region of Waterloo Community Environmental Fund to support this project. We plan to prepare the site and seed it in Spring 2024. There will be many opportunities to volunteer and get involved e.g. by providing seeds or plants, or helping with the preparation, planting and maintenance. So please save any native plant seeds or native plant “volunteers” that you might be able to pot up for us nearer the time. Also, if you are willing to try “winter sowing” this will help to provide seedlings for the project for planting in June (we can provide the seeds). There is a Facebook Page which you can join to get the updates (search for Pollinator Roadsides (Waterloo Region). If you can help with this, or by volunteering your time when it comes to preparation and planting, please let us know at:
conservation@waterlooregionnature.ca or
knap@waterlooregionnature.ca
Bird Friendly City Kitchener
Saving bird lives starts with local action! Across Canada, people are coming together to make their cities bird friendly. A local team has formed to get Kitchener certified as a Bird Friendly City.
Nature groups, municipal officials, and other community groups are teaming up with Nature Canada to ensure our urban environments are safe havens for birds rather than a source of threats. From predation by domestic cats, to window and car collisions, cities and towns present many preventable hazards to birds.
A Bird Friendly City is a community where:
Key threats to birds are effectively mitigated;
Nature is restored so native bird populations can thrive;
Residents are actively engaged in admiring and monitoring local bird populations;
Organizations are creating events to protect birds;
Progressive municipal policies are created to protect urban bird populations; and
A Bird Team has been created to oversee and lead these initiatives.
Past Projects
Ecoposts
In May 2015, with funding from the Region of Waterloo, TD’s Friends of the Environment Foundation, and the University of Waterloo, WRN began the EcoPosts initiative. EcoPosts aims to inform the public about Waterloo Region’s natural heritage, and will encourage folk to explore the outdoors. The project will achieve this through informative signs placed in various natural areas. Using an EcoPost’s QR code and a smart phone or tablet, a user will be able to quickly access a website with information on the natural features of the area. Each web page accessed also informs the viewer of nearby areas of interest (both natural areas and other features). The website will be accessible to people of all ages, and can also be used at home as a resource on Waterloo region’s natural heritage. The web page also has a form for user input, about species sightings, management issues etc.
Peregrine Nest Box
In February 2015 we donated the money needed to build a light-weight nest box to put on the CTV tower in Kitchener where the pair of downtown resident Peregrine Falcons hatched and successfully fledged four chicks.
Pollinator Information Session
In April 2015 we paid to rent a theatre for a Sierra Club Canada information session on pollinators and the risks to them from neonicotinoid pesticides.
Past Donations from our Sanctuary Fund
- In 2024 we gave $10,000 to Ontario Nature to help expand the Gananoque Lake Nature Reserve.
- In 2020 we gave $5,000 to raresites to help acquire a second property in the Eramosa River Valley in Wellington County.
- In 2018 we gave $5,000 to raresites to help acquire a property in the Eramosa River Valley in Wellington County.
- In 2016 we gave $1,000 to Ontario Nature to help acquire the Sydenham River Nature Reserve.
- In 2015 we gave $10,000 to the Thames Talbot Land Trust to help acquire the Hawk Cliff Woods property.
- In 2014 we gave $3,000 to Ontario Nature to help acquire additional land in the Lost Bay Nature Reserve.
- In 2013 we gave $10,000 to the Bruce Trail Conservancy to help acquire three properties - Silent Valley, Fairmount-Webwood Passage and Duntroon Crevice Heights.
- In 2006 we gave $1,000 to the Hamilton Field Naturalists to help with the mortgage on Cartwright Nature Sanctuary.
- In 2004 we gave $25,000 to Cruickston Charitable Research Reserve to help pay the mortgage at what is now known as the rare Charitable Research Reserve.
- In 1999 we gave $20,000 to the Nature Conservancy of Canada to acquire land near Morrisburg.
- In 1988/89 there were some small donations of $110 to Backus Woods, $35 to Forests for Tomorrow and $100 to Long Point Bird Observatory.
- In 1986 we gave $3,000 to Hamilton Conservation Authority for part of Crieff Bog near Puslinch - Fletcher Creek Ecological Preserve.
- In 1985 we gave $3,000 towards the Stone Road Alvar on Pelee Island.
Purchases
- In 1962 F.W.R. Dickson Wilderness Area south of Cambridge was purchased and later donated to the Grand River Conservation Authority.
- In 1964 Bannister Marsh and Wrigley Lake (near Cambridge) were preserved through our cooperation with the GRCA.
- In 1967 the Founders’ Wildlife Sanctuary near Roseville was acquired.
- In 1970 the F.H. Montgomery Wildlife Sanctuary on the Nith River near New Dundee was acquired.
