We are fortunate in Burlington to have a wide variety of natural habitats, but we often forget to stop and appreciate them due to our busy lives.
Burlington, like most cities in the world, consisted of forest and wetland. Agricultural and city development cleared away much of it, filled in wetland, and piped creeks underground, but if you look around you can still see “pockets of nature”, even in the most urban areas. We must be vigilant in protecting these remaining natural areas.
Explore the beauty this city has to offer, take some time to visit, interact with and connect with our natural habitats in the city. Some natural habitats in Burlington include:
- Patches of woodland in urban Burlington, including many of our backyards
- Rural forest areas in north Burlington
- Marsh areas below Dundas St., including the RBG and Cootes Paradise area, and more above Dundas St.
- The Lake Ontario and Burlington Bay shoreline – such as LaSalle Park, supporting the winter habitat of the majestic Trumpeter Swans
- Several creeks from Grindstone in the west, to Bronte in the east
- Various field environments that provide important habitats for local wildlife
- Halton Conservation Areas and some city parks with natural habitats and of course, a world biosphere reserve: the scenic Niagara Escarpment.
- The Bruce trail
- Waterfront Trail to Burlington Beach, various “windows to the lake” and parkettes on route
Green space provides a multitude of social, economic and environmental benefits contributing to a quality of life we can all enjoy. When we get outside and start connecting with nature, we not only begin to value and understand its importance, but our motivation to preserve and protect it increases. Connecting with nature is not only good for us, but it is good for nature too.
Protecting our city’s green space and restoring natural areas improves ecosystem biodiversity, benefiting all of us and the local wildlife with which we share our communities. Nature-Friendly Burlington is designed to help YOU connect with local nature, get involved in supporting our local biodiversity and inspiring you to organize your own stewardship activities to help nature.
Burlington’s natural areas are scenic and they contribute to the quality of our lives when we take time to visit them and hear the songbirds or see animals going about their daily business. They are intricate and fragile ecosystems, containing a wide variety of plant, animal, and microscopic life in a delicate balance – these are small communities too.
Bees live there and pollinate our nearby crops and orchards to give us food. Marshes help clean pollutants out of our water sources. Trees help clean our air. Furthermore, wildlife need a home. When we take away too much of their habitat, they have no choice but to wander into our communities where they can then become considered “nuisance wildlife”.
When one learns about these communities in a bit more detail, it becomes clear how special they are and how important it is to protect them.
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