Parks Canada to contribute $3.5 million in support of Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System

By Saeed Akhtar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Milton Reporter

Parks Canada has announced a contribution of more than $3.5M to Conservation Halton and partners in support of the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System.

The Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark is 2,200 hectares of natural area, including forests, wetlands, creeks and shoreline, which is protected by a partnership of government and not-for-profit groups, including Conservation Halton, Hamilton Conservation, Royal Botanical Gardens, Bruce Trail Conservancy, Halton Region, City of Burlington, City of Hamilton, Hamilton Naturalist’s Club and McMaster University.

Conservation Halton is a community-based environmental agency that protects, restores and manages the natural resources in its watershed.

Funds will be used for collaborative efforts to restore ecological corridors between Cootes Paradise and the Niagara Escarpment in Hamilton and Burlington.

The contribution to the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System is funded by the Parks Canada National Program for Ecological Corridors.

The program was launched in 2022 and this is the first initiative that it has funded. The funding announcement was made by the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister, along with Dr. David Galbraith, Head of Science at the Royal Botanical Gardens of Burlington and Hamilton, Ontario.

“We are proud to be a partner in the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System and to receive this funding from Parks Canada,” said Hassaan Basit, President & CEO, Conservation Halton. “For nature to thrive, especially in complex regions like ours where development needs to be in balance with the area’s rich biodiversity, it needs to be connected.”