Rabbits share the West Toronto Railpath with runners and cyclists. A pair of endangered piping plovers nested on the Toronto Islands last summer, producing three fledglings. Within the last 20 years, two of Canada’s most at-risk bumblebee species were both spotted along the Humber River, near Old Mill subway station. A black bear — an honest-to-goodness black bear — showed up in Rouge Park in 1991. The world is gripped by an extinction crisis caused in part by urbanization. And yet wildlife persists in the city of Toronto. Sometimes, wildlife even thrives here.On Thursday, city council adopted a plan to make Toronto wilder. It describes a vision of the city as a rich urban ecosystem that supports a huge diversity of plants and animals. The Biodiversity Strategy, the city’s first, acknowledges that a greener, wilder city makes for healthier human residents, and that boosting biodiversity will be key to withstanding the pressures of climate change. Urban ecologists and nature advocates praised the strategy, which has been in development since 2015 and was subject to wide consultations before the final version was put to a vote.But they warned that the plan would be a waste if it is not backed by action and money, and that they have been disappointed before.In 2017, city council adopted the Ravine Strategy, a plan to support Toronto’s most important natural oases. Ravines are central to the city’s nature goals because they account for the vast majority of our semi-intact natural ecosystems. Covering 17 per cent of Toronto, they are a huge opportunity for conservation. Two years later, city staff have still not produced a report on how the Ravine Strategy will be implemented. Council originally requested that this report be delivered in 2018. Council has not approved any dedicated funding for the Ravine Strategy, despite citizen-led pressure. The report, and any funding requests for the 2020 budget, is now expected in December. ...
|
