What YOU need to know to keep oak wilt out of Ontario Parks!

Today’s post comes from Program Development Intern Vincent La Tassa at the Invasive Species Centre. 

Ontario is home to a significant number of majestic oak trees, many of which take root in our provincial parks.

They provide us with shade, beauty, and a sense of connection with nature. The sprawling canopies of these mighty oaks offer a serene backdrop to our adventures.

However, there is a silent threat to oak trees.

Read on so we can work together to prevent it from spreading:

Continue reading What YOU need to know to keep oak wilt out of Ontario Parks!

Why is biodiversity important?

Biodiversity is a big word for the variety of life on Earth.

Biodiversity is you — and every other living thing on the planet.

We see biodiversity every day, but it’s more than bugs and animals and trees. It’s about how everything is connected. If we lose one piece of biodiversity, the rest is affected.

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Why social trails are damaging to provincial parks

Park-lovers are natural explorers, and we love our visitors’ passion for adventure.

Sometimes, we see our visitors create their own shortcuts by cutting through sensitive habitat. This is otherwise known as creating a social trail.

Social trails can have a wide range of damaging effects on protected areas, and we’d like to ask our visitors to always stay on designated trails.

Continue reading Why social trails are damaging to provincial parks

Orphaned by the Ice Age

Today’s post comes from Cara Freitag, a park naturalist at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park.

One of the most interesting stories that a small, shrubby, low-growing plant can tell is that of Sleeping Giant’s arctic disjunct species.

They survived a journey of over 850 km: that’s almost infinity for small plants like the Encrusted Saxifrage.

Travelling from the geological area known today as Polar Bear Provincial Park, these plants have found microclimates they can also call home here at Sleeping Giant.

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The fascinating world of dragonflies and their importance to ecosystems

Today’s blog comes to us from Park Naturalist Sarah Lamond at Algonquin Provincial Park.

Picture it: a warm July day at Algonquin.

You’re basking in the day’s rays and exploring an interpretive trail.

It’s all picture perfect until you hear that telltale buzz and feel an all-too-familiar pain on your scalp.

The Deer Flies have arrived.

Swatting at the growing swarm, you look to the sky and wonder: will there be no relief?

And then they arrive. The prehistoric predator. The Deer Fly devourer. The people’s champion.

Dragonflies.

Continue reading The fascinating world of dragonflies and their importance to ecosystems

Bats: The mammal, the myth, the legend

Today’s post comes from Ashley Hanas, a bat technician with the Friends of Pinery Park.

Bats are the only true flying mammal.

There are currently over 1,400 species and bats encompass 20% of the mammalian species on earth (meaning 1 in 5 mammals are bats!).

Bats are essential to the health of our environment, providing indispensable ecosystem and economic services in the form of prolific insect pest control, pollination of plants, and dispersal of seeds.

Their droppings, or guano, are rich in phosphorus and nitrogen, making it a highly effective fertilizer.

Despite the numerous benefits bats provide us, their reputations are marred by negative misconceptions.

Continue reading Bats: The mammal, the myth, the legend

Opening doors with Ontario Parks

Today’s blog was written by Pilar Manorome, a park planner in Protected Areas Section at Ontario Parks.

As a kid, I was always fascinated by the natural world around me and was very fortunate to grow up in Norfolk County.

It was a place where I could step out my door and have a wide array of trees, wildflowers, birds, insects, and everything in between, right at my fingertips.

I am also very blessed to have a family that encouraged exploration of the natural world through taking me to the local conservation areas and provincial parks to find frogs and wildflowers, and down dirt roads to find birds and butterflies.

Although my mom and grandparents lit the spark, the flame was truly fanned when I started volunteering for my local Conservation Authority.

Working for Ontario Parks has only further fed the fire.

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10 reasons you should try spring camping

Close your eyes and imagine:

  • your face flush with your first dose of spring sunshine
  • your ears are filled with the beautiful songs of migrating birds
  • your nervous system soothed by the rhythm of waves on the shoreline

Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?

Here are our top ten reasons to try spring camping this season:
Continue reading 10 reasons you should try spring camping