Creating and Restoring Fish and Wildlife habitat: Detroit River and its tributaries

2012-2013 Funding: $274,500 total, including $90,000 provided by the Great Lakes Sustainability Fund

Other Project Contributors: Essex Region Conservation Authority, landowners and Ontario Power Generation.

More than three hectares of wildlife habitat created at the Windsor Airport Lands are supporting the recovery of wildlife in the Detroit River Area of Concern, under a project supported by the Great Lakes Sustainability Fund.

The newly created habitat now connects two provincially significant wetlands, establishing a wildlife corridor that will support biodiversity. Fish and wildlife populations in the Area of Concern have declined as a result of habitat loss due to historical industrialization and ongoing urban and agricultural development.

This project supports the Essex Region Conservation Authority’s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy, which helps to identify opportunities to restore and create priority habitat in watersheds of the Detroit River. These watersheds include the Little River, Turkey Creek and the Canard River. Project partners work with landowners to support the creation of wetlands, forests and shoreline habitat that will then increase biodiversity.

In 2012, more than 12 hectares of Carolinian forest and wetland habitat were created at 6 locations in the area: 3 in Amherstburg and 1 each in Windsor, Essex and Kingsville. Carolinian habitat is a unique ecosystem zone that supports a great diversity of habitat and species, found in Canada only in southwestern Ontario. Follow-up surveys are helping to assess the extent to which the new habitat is attracting fish and wildlife, as well as to measure the effectiveness of various public outreach activities.

Consult the following external web site for more information on the Detroit River Area of Concern.