Item - 2020.EX18.12

The Executive Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council direct the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation to review the Manual for Stewardship in Public Ravines and Natural Areas, and after consultation with Manual authors, report back to the Executive Committee by the second quarter of 2021 on how this Manual can be implemented as the template for expanding ravine and natural areas stewardship in Toronto without City supervision. 

2.  City Council request the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation to report back to the Executive Committee by the second quarter of 2021 on the following:

a. does the City have staff to administer the by-laws or future by-laws in regards to Section 3, Regulatory Context of the Manual;

b.  the action that will be taken to ensure the community groups stay on task with the same projects in regard to Section 4, Stewardship Programs, of the Manual as coordination with all community groups will be necessary and difficult;

c. providing further attention and clarity with respect to Litter Removal regulations in Section 5, Stewardship Activities, of the Manual to avoid volunteers damaging native plants;

d. whether the nylon fencing in Section 5.3, Litter Prevention and Control, of the Manual will be well received by residents for wildlife, as the fencing prohibits animals to move around and some may not like the aesthetics;

e. the requirement for a budget for continuous training in Section 7, Training, of the Manual as the turnover for volunteer Stewards is eminent and ongoing training will be required;

f. separating out Section 8, Best Management Practices for Ecological Restoration, of the Manual as this section does not address Stewardship but with deals with maintenance and a "how to" on ravine management;

g.  clarifying the term “Native Plant”, as with climate change, we have an abundance of plants migrating north into southern Ontario and will these plants eventually become part of our native collection;

h,  how will the management of invasive plants be monitored and will the plants on the invasive shift to native in time, as invasive plants have presented problems with some residents doing their best to dispose of them, for example “dog weed plants”, and some are using the weed to cover their fences creating additional spread;

i.  how many stewards are projected to be needed and how will they be managed to ensure an distribution across the ravine network;

j.  as each area of the City would need its own managers of stewards, will the City commit to this layer of management;

k. will the lead for this program be the City’s Park, Forestry and Recreation Division or will the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority be responsible;

l. the communication strategy with property owners abutting the ravine lands as well as the local community associations, Friends groups and other stakeholders, as many may not support having volunteers in the ravine areas surrounding their homes; homeowners are accustomed to having Toronto and Region Conservation Authority staff addressing the area by spraying chemicals, planting in areas that may flood; on occasions some of the planting surpasses the property line and takes place on private property; and as these individuals are part of an organization, residents feel comfortable, and having volunteer stewards is a different matter which will require advanced notice and planning if agreed by the property owners, as many residents have been living in these homes for over 25 years and have been maintaining the ravine area behind their homes; and

m. including in the Manual:

1. a description of the management that will be required for the program to succeed;

2. a budget for program or seed funding;

3. a budget to train Stewards;

4. how the number of volunteers per activity will be sustained or achieved; and

5. a staff budget to find the necessary stewards and volunteers.

The health of Toronto’s ravines and natural areas has been declining, suffering under the pressures of invasive species, climate change, overuse by people, land development including public infrastructure, and excessive amounts of litter. Ravine health is now at an ecological tipping point.

The City and the TRCA have a number of strategy documents that commit to addressing ravine health, including:

• Toronto Ravine Strategy
• Toronto Pollinator Protection Strategy
• Toronto’s Biodiversity Strategy
• TRCA Living City Report Cards

Each of these strategies calls for Toronto’s citizens to have an expanded role in taking action to restore the health of our ravines and natural areas. The City, alone, is not equipped to handle the threats of invasive plants, improving biodiversity and litter.  Existing Community Stewardship Programs don’t have the scope to support the needed work.

Toronto City Council passed several motions on January 29th, 2020, that addressed ravine strategy implementation. In Motion 14, City Council directed the creation of:

a. natural-areas stewardship programs to deal with invasive species that will permit qualified volunteers to lead volunteer groups without City supervision;

b. a user-friendly and cost-effective protocol that will support and encourage citizen volunteer engagement in both ravine clean-up and stewardship to help restore the City's ravines and other natural areas;

Additional motions were passed to address the role of schools and youth in helping Toronto’s natural environment.  Stewardship of Toronto’s natural areas aligns well with other specific City initiatives, such as Live Green Toronto, in TORavines, Clean Toronto Together, Youth equity progams, Resilience Strategy, etc.

This manual supports the implementation of the Council motions by describing the activities that stewards will undertake (litter cleanup, invasive plant removal, native species planting, monitoring) and by defining two programs for independent stewardship (Adopt-a-Patch and Pop-Up Events).

These programs will be led by volunteer stewards who have completed a Lead Steward training program, instructed by experts and professionals in ecological restoration.

A web enabled portal is being developed to support recruitment and registration of stewards for stewardship events.  This portal will be hosted on the University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty’s Forestry web site.

This stewardship initiative is premised on the General Manager of Parks, Forestry and Recreation providing a comprehensive permit to allow Lead Stewards to supervise groups of stewards in performing the activities described in the manual.