I am happy to report Restore Cootes has been a successful broker for two recent developments in the former Coldspring Valley Nature Sanctuary:
- A local company was looking to the Hamilton Naturalist Club to find a place where their employees could volunteer for a day planting trees. The offer was strengthened by the acknowledgment that the type of trees/shrubs could be chosen by the host. I suggested McMaster's newly created buffer zone on Lot M - and happily it was all made possible with the help of professor Susan Dudley, Jen Baker of the Naturalists club, Zanita Lukezich of Evergreen, and the folks at Canon who will be helping. So on Thursday, October 9, 150 native trees and shrubs will be planted on what was, until recently, a parking lot. There is room for a few McMaster volunteers, so let me know if you want to help.
- As the planting discussion was unfolding, I read a news article about The Royal Botanical Gardens' efforts to protect turtles in the vicinity of nearby Cootes Drive. I asked professor Dudley (et al) if Lot M would feature any improvements for turtle habitat, which prompted a flurry of activity resulting in a Saturday, October 4 work party, again by volunteers (this time from McMaster's Macserve day) to create space for turtles to lay eggs. The Gardens' staff were eager to see this happen since newly erected safety fences directing turtles away from the road make Lot M's newly created naturalized buffer a destination for the slow moving beauties.
I am fortunate to have access to people who are working on these issues, and by merely speaking up or suggesting an idea, it is very rewarding to be able to watch it develop into meaningful action. Thanks everyone who made these initiatives come to life!
If you want to help, please get in touch!
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