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© Lora Denis
October 6, 2022–Melissa Thomas
Climate Change•Community Science•Environmental Education•Nature Reserves•Protected Places•Stewardship and restoration
Dundas Valley © Dieter Staudinger
Earlier this summer, community science volunteers joined us to assess carbon at select Ontario Nature properties. This year, we have been working towards assessing the value of protected areas and conservation lands as nature-based solutions for climate change by modeling carbon storage of protected areas. Natural climate solutions, such as conservation or restoration, have been estimated to have the potential to provide 37% of the mitigation effort needed until 2030 to limit warming to 2°C.
To ensure accuracy of the carbon storage model, volunteers and staff collected carbon assessment data from various land cover types. Field validation was conducted at Sauble Dunes, Malcolm Bluff Shores, and Kinghurst Forest nature reserves.
Our staff trained volunteers in above ground biomass and soil biomass sampling. We then collected data at each site to determine the carbon stored in trees and soils. We collected above ground biomass data by measuring tree diameter and height, and soil biomass data by cores that were analyzed for carbon. Each land cover type has different carbon storage capacities, making it important to sample from all land cover types within the site.
With Canada’s target of 30% lands and water protection by 2030, increasing local support and promoting carbon assessments across Ontario can support decision-making in areas of conservation priority. Addressing climate change through the protection and restoration of conserved lands has a host of shared benefits and addresses the need for solutions that consider the interconnections between climate, biodiversity, and communities.
Feedback gathered from this event will inform guidelines and recommendations on conducting carbon assessments. We will be sharing our results and a Best Practices Guide in an upcoming webinar. Please keep an eye on our events calendar so you don’t miss it! Visit ontarionature.org/events for more.
Thank you to everyone who joined us from the Bruce Trail Conservancy, Owen Sound Field Naturalists, Saugeen Nature, Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy, Ontario Land Trust Alliance, Parks Canada, University of Waterloo, and Nature Conservancy of Canada. And thank you to TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, Bruce Power, and the RBC Foundation for supporting the project.
To learn more about our work with FSC, watch our video “Protecting 1 million hectares in FSC-certified forests” and visit our Story Map to learn about FSC designated conservation lands and other candidate areas.
You can join us in protecting one million hectares of northern Ontario forests and wetlands by donating here: ontarionature.thankyou4caring.org/donation-pages/protected-places.
© Lena Morrison
Hello I am asking around what municipalities are doing with their biosolids.There is an article in the Globe&Mail ,Sat Oct8,that Canada wastes its biomass. It is a natural resource. Allan Smith in Grimsby