In partnership with the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust (ORMLT), A Rocha Canada’s community project in the Greater Toronto Area is engaging communities in hands-on stewardship activities at the ORMLT’s 7.16 hectare StarCliff Nature Reserve in King Township.StarCliff Nature Reserve is an ecologically significant property.It is located in the headwaters of two GTA watersheds, flowing north and south into Lake Simcoe and Lake Ontario and it is home to a groundwater fed kettle lake. Finally, it is part of the Natural Core Area designation in the Province of Ontario’s Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan.

A crew of Ontario Stewardship Rangers (a youth employment program of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) helped this July with our stewardship efforts at this unique property. The youths worked alongside Paul Abell, Stewardship Coordinator with A Rocha GTA.They maintained a trail, removed aggressively invasive shrubs and constructed 22 metres of boardwalk. They also learned about the importance of private land partnerships through land trusts (covenants) in conserving ecologically significant lands. Special thanks were given to York Environmental Stewardship for supplying all the construction materials and to Gaia Eco-Consultants for its active support of the partnership.

Should you be interested in learning more about StarCliff Nature Reserve and how you might get involved with our stewardship efforts there, please contact ontario@arocha.ca begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              end_of_the_skype_highlighting.