Trade association partners with conservation group on project in Norfolk County

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

by SUSAN MANN

A trade association representing Canada’s pesticide and plant biotechnology industry is partnering with a national land conservation group to restore a 10-acre field in Norfolk County back to its native habitat.

This is the first time CropLife Canada and the Nature Conservancy of Canada have worked together on a project, CropLife says in an April 16 press release.

Nadine Sisk, CropLife vice president of communications and member services, says they don’t know yet if they’ll do other projects with the Nature Conservancy. “We’re going to see how the current project goes first.”

CropLife donated $27,000 “and that goes towards the cost of the restoration process,” Sisk says. The land is owned by the Nature Conservancy and it will be planted this year with about 60 plant species native to the area, including wildflowers, grasses, shrubs and trees. The plants will flower at different times during the growing season to attract and accommodate a variety of pollinators, such as bees, flies, butterflies, moths, birds and other animals, the release says.

Rebecca Hall, Nature Conservancy communications manager for the Ontario region, says the donation pays for the actual plant materials, site preparation, equipment, labour, invasive species removal and monitoring for two years.

The main goal of the project “was to restore the property back to its native habitat,” she says.

The 10-acre field was previously planted with soybeans and is part of a 49-acre property consisting mainly of wooded swamp that the Nature Conservancy owns. The 10-acre field is an extension of the St. Williams Conservation Reserve.

The Nature Conservancy is a private, non-profit organization that partners with individuals, corporations, governments, organizations and other non-profit groups to protect Canada’s natural areas. BF