Our purpose
Our shared purpose for this project is the restoration of the Vale of Avoca Ravine and its continuing protection for the benefit of future generations.
The Vale of Avoca is one of Toronto’s most scenic ravines and natural habitats. Neglect over many years has caused serious and continuing deterioration of the ravine and its ecology. Toronto’s Ravine Strategy articulates the importance of our ravines for human and environmental well-being, and provides a road-map for actions that will ensure that ravine stewardship today provides a lasting legacy for our city for years to come.
With the right plan — and effective implementation — our city will gain a spectacular natural park admired and enjoyed by locals and visitors alike.
Enduring restoration of Avoca Vale will require an integrated approach that provides concerted solutions to the problems of stream and slope erosion, degraded park and trail infrastructure, and failing biodiversity due to aggressive non-native plant monocultures expanding their hold on the ravine ecology.
This is a community-driven project, with local residents, organizations, businesses, and private funding sources, working with public sector officials and staff to achieve outcomes that would not otherwise be possible.
Who we are
The Avoca Restoration Project is being led by the Midtown Ravines Group (MRG), a consortium of ten residents’ associations representing the surrounding neighbourhoods. MRG is an incorporated not-for-profit association, and has applied for charitable status. Additional details on the Midtown Ravines Group can be found at the MRG website. MRG member organizations are convinced that effective stewardship of our local ravines is critical to the future health of our neighbourhoods.
The MRG is an active participant in the Vale of Avoca Working Group, established in 2019 to support the implementation of Toronto’s Ravine Strategy as a means to solving long-standing problems in the Avoca ravine. The VoA Working Group includes Councillors Dianne Saxe and Josh Matlow, as well as representatives of city divisions sharing responsibility for the Vale of Avoca, including Parks & Recreation, Environment Climate & Forestry, Water Services, and the TRCA.
This project will also depend on the energy, input, and support from a range of stakeholders connected to the Vale of Avoca, including private individuals, local businesses, property developers, other organizations, including sources of private funding, along with departments and agencies of the city and other levels of government.
Please add your name to our contact list for this project, and contact us about getting involved. We need your inspiration and energy to move forward.