Restoring Habitats, Reviving Species

This Giving Tuesday, Ontario Nature is raising funds to protect endangered species. There are about 270 species at risk in Ontario. But thanks to the dedication and hard work of many people across the province, some species at risk are experiencing positive gains that give us hope for the future.

Take the mottled duskywing, for instance. This butterfly was first added to the Species at Risk in Ontario List in 2014 and has been considered endangered for the past ten years. It can be found in isolated patches throughout southern Ontario where it faces challenges due to habitat. Recently, however, things have been looking up for this butterfly species.

Over the past several years, groups including Ontario Nature have undertaken large-scale habitat restoration projects to return lands once developed for agriculture back to their original ecosystems. This is good news for species that rely on specific plants and ecosystems to survive. The mottled duskywing, for example, has recently returned to Pinery Provincial Park due in part to the revived presence of New Jersey Tea – one of only two plants the butterflies lay their eggs on.

One area Ontario Nature has been working hard to restore is our Sydenham River Nature Reserve. Located between the shores of Lake Huron and Lake Erie, the same area where the work to recover the mottled duskywing has been underway, Sydenham River Nature Reserve is a 288-acre property which Ontario Nature, the Sydenham Field Naturalists and Lambton Wildlife Inc. are transforming portions of it into tallgrass prairie. Eventually, the land will become Carolinian forest through natural succession.

Home to 38 species at risk including birds, plants, reptiles, fish and freshwater mussels, one of our goals in restoring areas like the Sydenham River Nature Reserve is to restore crucial habitats for the species that depend on them. The come-back stories of species like the mottled duskywing gives us hope that we are on the right track.

By permanently protecting lands, restoring their ecosystems, and monitoring the health of the species that live there, Ontario Nature is helping to support the recovery of species at risk. This Giving Tuesday, you can help our efforts to return endangered species from the brink by making a gift to Ontario Nature and helping us to continue this important work.

By making Ontario Nature’s campaign to protect endangered species your cause this Giving Tuesday, you will support:

• Protecting and restoring vulnerable habitat at our 26 nature reserves across Ontario
• Standing up for a strong Endangered Species Act
• Partnering in research projects like Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas 3, which will guide environmental policies and conservation strategies
• Promoting good stewardship and more sustainable industrial practices
• Undertaking community science projects like long-term monitoring protocols to detect changes in populations and habitats of reptiles and amphibians over time

Please visit our Giving Tuesday campaign to learn more.

Hayley is Ontario Nature's membership coordinator. She joined Ontario Nature in September 2022. Hayley developed a love of nature and the outdoors while growing up in northern Ontario. Hayley took Canadian Studies at Trent University and Arts Administration at Humber College. In her spare time, she is an avid knitter and enjoys looking for birds while walking her dog and spending time at her family’s cabin in Temagami in the summer.