Congratulation to local teams of volunteer ecological stewards who are doing their part to promote biodiversity in the midtown area. The teams operate within an arrangement between Toronto Nature Stewards and the City of Toronto, in which trained lead stewards guide ecological restoration activities in designated parkland locations around the City. The local midtown sites include Severn Creek Park (behind Rosedale Subway Station), and Roxborough Parkette (at the corner of Mount Pleasant Road and Roxborough Drive) at the foot of the Vale of Avoca.
Roxborough Parkette was one of the original TNS sites, and has now completed five seasons of stewardship. Volunteers have gathered weekly during spring, summer, and fall to carefully remove invasive plants, selectively replacing them with native varieties where space has been cleared. Thanks to the volunteers, there is greatly reduced presence of buckthorn, garlic mustard, dog-strangling vine, and other invasives at the site.
Volunteers at the October 26th planting day at Roxborough Parkette, with Councillor Dianne Saxe. (Photo credit: Bob Gillespie.)
Ward 11 Councillor Saxe has lent a hand with local stewardship efforts directly, while also supporting budgetary measures that enable collaboration between the City’s Urban Forestry staff and local volunteer stewards. The Midtown Ravine Group welcomes future opportunities that might arise for volunteer stewardship to contribute to ecological restoration throughout the Vale of Avoca.