The Ontario government is investing nearly $3 million in 26 community led projects designed to protect the province’s air, land and water.
The funding comes through the Ontario Community Environment Fund, which is supported by environmental penalties paid by companies and facilities that violate provincial environmental rules.
The province says this year’s funding round is the largest in the program’s history.
Projects receiving funding include shoreline cleanups, habitat restoration, invasive species removal, river restoration and tree planting.
Among the funded initiatives is a project by the Invasive Species Centre, which is receiving nearly $286,000 to eradicate invasive hydrilla at Hillman Marsh in Leamington through treatment, monitoring and public outreach.
The Manitoulin Streams Improvement Association is receiving $120,000 to restore riverbanks and improve fish habitat along the Mindemoya River.
The Goderich to Guelph Rail Trail is receiving $25,000 for invasive species removal and native plantings along degraded sections of the trail.
Freshwater Conservation Canada is receiving more than $86,000 to restore habitat for native brook trout populations on Mono Centre Creek.
The province says more than $6.74 million from environmental penalties has been invested through the fund since 2010, supporting 134 projects across Ontario.
Those projects have engaged volunteers in more than 29,000 hours of environmental activities, including planting more than 829,000 trees, shrubs and plants.
The work has included restoring more than 55 kilometres of shoreline and 1,597 acres of land, while volunteers have collected more than 2,000 bags of litter.
For this year’s funding round, more than $1.6 million was available in Southwestern Ontario, more than $721,000 in West Central Ontario and more than $585,000 in Northern Ontario.
The province says the Ontario Community Environment Fund will continue to direct money collected through environmental penalties toward local projects that help create cleaner, healthier and more resilient communities.
(Written by: Branden Rushton)
