407 ETR to help transform roadsides across the GTHA into a pollinator's paradise
407 ETR and the Canadian Wildlife Federation are teaming up to restore the equivalent of 22 football fields of land to enhance monarch butterfly and pollinator habitats along roadsides in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
The 407 ETR has teamed up with the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) to transform roadsides into a pollinator paradise.
The monarch butterfly was listed as endangered by the International Union of the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2022 and is threatened in Canada.
According to Victoria Woodhouse, Habitat Program Manager at CWF, that threat has inspired the conservation group to start the "Rights of Way" habitat project, which they hope will catch on across the country.
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With funding from 407 ETR, roadside property will be transformed over the next three years in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area to resemble something closer to a meadow than a lawn.
Approximately 12 hectares (22 football fields) of land in different municipalities will see turf replaced by wildflowers that will attract butterflies, bees, and other pollinators at risk.
Christina Basil, Director of Communications and Government Relations at 407 ETR stresses, "There’s so much opportunity to do this work everywhere, and so we hope that we’ll be inspiring others to join us in this effort."
To learn more about this new initiative, watch the video that leads this article.
Thumbnail image courtesy of the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CNW Group/407 ETR Concession Company Limited)
