Investment will help 70 farms create wetland projects

The Ontario government is investing over $2.8 million in projects led by ALUS Canada to support farmer-led initiatives to restore and enhance wetlands on 70 farms across the province.

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The funding will support the restoration of approximately 208 acres of wetlands in 11 municipalities and counties in the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence and Ottawa River watersheds. The goal is to increase the total area of functioning wetlands infrastructure to prevent flooding and improve water quality, the provincial government said in a release.

The projects led by ALUS Canada will involve working with 70 farmers to prepare sites on their properties for wetland restoration and implement a variety of enhancements, such as planting native trees and shrubs, grassland planting, pollinator plantings, exclusion fencing, erosion controls and invasive species control.

“Farmers play a key role in environmental and economic health. The funding from the province recognizes the importance of working with farmers and ranchers to ensure they can provide the solutions the communities need,” Bryan Gilvesy, CEO CEO, ALUS Canada, said in the release. “Wetlands and other nature-based solutions to environmental challenges are cost-effective. Investing in and creating these solutions now makes farming, communities, and economies more resilient in the long-term.”

This wetland project is among the many projects led by conservation partners that are collectively receiving up to $11 million from the Wetlands Conservation Partner Program this year.

The release said the Wetlands Conservation Partner Program is one of the largest investments in wetland enhancement and restoration in the province’s history. Over the past five years, Ontario has invested over $31 million to support a wide range of projects that restore and enhance large and small-scale wetlands and wetlands in more urban areas as part of municipal stormwater management.