Toronto Shorelines

If you would like to be involved in the process of protecting the natural environment and shaping the future of Toronto's shoreline, please attend this meeting.  Keeping the remaining 2 km of sand beach natural is the best legacy we can leave for future generations. We do not need more paved and hardening shorelines. This project is based on outdated ideas from the past. In 1992 the province of Ontario established the Waterfront Regeneration Trust to implement recommendations of 'Regeneration', a Royal Commission report which included public consultations. One of the recommendations was to create a continuous waterfront trail along the shorelines of Lake Ontario. This is not a good reason to continue with this project. This is not 1992.  This project is not environmentally responsible. We need to let the TRCA know that we are serious about protecting what natural beauty and biodiversity remains and paving a shoreline is not the way ...

Bank Swallows flying along the bluffs The Bank Swallow; Riparia Riparia  Status in Ontario: Threatened Location: East Point Park and Bird Sanctuary East Scarborough, Toronto Ontario “Threatened ” means the species lives in the wild but is likely to become endangered if steps are not taken to address factors threatening it. A few facts about this delightful song bird: Bank Swallows nest in burrows along vertical faces of silt, sand or clay. Territories may support colonies of 10 to 2,000 nests with burrows 2-3 ft deep Bank Swallows are extremely social birds. They are seldom alone when outside the nest and because of this close proximity, they have developed many complex social behaviours A small songbird, the Bank Swallow is distinguished in flight by its quick, erratic wing beats. They fly shallow typically gliding for 2 seconds at a time An Aerial Insectivore, the Bank Swallow catches and feeds on insects in flight  The cause f...

I'm presenting this exhibit of photographs in May 2016 as part of the 20th Anniversary Contact Photography Festival. The work will be on exhibit at Art Works Art Gallery at 238 Jane Street from Thursday May 12 to Saturday June 11, 2016. Opening Reception is Thursday May 12 from 6-8 pm - all are welcome.  The photographs I'm exhibiting are a documentation drawing attention to the irreversible practice of shoreline hardening. Under the pretence of erosion protection; revetments, armour rocks and paved roads are taking over our natural shorelines. In an attempt to alter the malleable, shifting and changing clay shores of the Scarborough Bluffs, developers are not only destroying an ecosystem and animal habitat but they are severing our connection to the lake.  The shoreline at risk begins near Grey Abbey Ravine and continues east along the shore for about 4 km to East Point Park and Bird Sanctuary. In addition to this area being an impor...

Wetland, East Point Bird Sanctuary, Scarborough Photo credit: Jen Falvy April 21st marks the anniversary of the loss of a great conservationist, forester, philosopher, educator, writer, and outdoor enthusiast; Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948).  Leopold was influential in the development of modern environmental ethics and in the movement for wilderness conservation. His ethics of nature and wildlife preservation had a profound impact on the environmental movement, with his ecocentric or holistic ethics regarding land. He emphasized biodiversity and ecology and was a founder of the science of wildlife management. (from Wikipedia) Born in 1887 and raised in Burlington, Iowa, Aldo Leopold developed an interest in the natural world at an early age, spending hours observing, journaling, and sketching his surroundings. Graduating from the Yale Forest School in 1909, he eagerly pursued a career with the...

I'm very pleased to announce that I will have a table at the Water Docs International Film Festival being presented by Ecologos. I'll be there on Thursday March 24th and Saturday March 26th, both days from 2-4 pm. I'm sending a special thank you to all the organizers of the festival for giving me this opportunity to share my concerns about the shorelines of Lake Ontario. Like most people, I am drawn to water. It’s a connection we all share. I believe that it’s because of this connection, that we also all have an equal responsibility to take care of our water and to be mindful and respectful of this great gift of life. The shoreline I am concerned with is in the far east of Scarborough where there is a remarkable stretch of sandy shore that relatively few people know about. The shore is, in many ways in its natural state, as it may have been found hundreds of years ago. It’s about 4 km in length, from Highland Creek on the east, to Grey Abbey Ravine in the we...

East Point Park Photo credit: Jen Falvy Your Environmental Rights at a Glance - Good to Know! This information is from the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario website. If you live in Ontario, you’re really lucky. Why? Because you have environmental rights! For example, under Ontario’s  Environmental Bill of Rights  ( EBR ), for instance, you have: a right to know about – and have a say in – government decisions that affect the environment; a right to ask the government to change or create environmental laws or policies; and a right to ask the government to investigate if you think someone is breaking an environmental law. Read the  Environmental Bill of Rights  itself, and its regulations, which describe how it applies to different  ministries and laws , and  approvals and permits . The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario is charged with monitoring and reporting on how well the government complies with the  Environ...

I would like to express my strong opposition to any plan of waterfront development that involves destroying the last remaining shorelines in Scarborough with armour rocks, revetments and roads. If the TRCA continues with the planned development, the last two remaining beaches will be permanently destroyed.  East Point Beach is a natural shore of about 4 km with a true coastal feel between Grey Abbey Ravine and Highland Creek, and Bluffer's Beach is a sandy beach with dune grass and diverse plants in a tranquil bay at the foot of the historic Cathedral Bluffs. Both of these beaches and their natural habitat will be lost forever if they are altered with your planned development. It is absolutely unacceptable in this day and age for this to be happening, especially when the trend is to be moving towards respect for nature.  We are living in a large metropolis that is becoming increasingly busy and if we pave over ...

Two beautiful beaches in Scarborough are at threat of being permanently destroyed! East Point   Beach  is a natural sandy beach of about 4 km with a true coastal feel between the Grey Abbey Ravine and Highland Creek. Bluffer's Beach  is a sandy beach with dune grass and diverse plants in a tranquil bay with a remarkable view from the base of the historic Cathedral Bluffs. Both of these beaches, their natural habitat and all of the remaining natural shoreline in Scarborough are about to be destroyed with 'concrete paths'.   It's hard to believe in this day and age that we are having a conversation of whether a beach should be kept natural or 'paved with concrete'. I believe we should be supporting low-impact access to the water which allows people to enjoy the benefits of being at the water's edge. We all know from first-hand experience, the joy of being near water and how rejuvenating it...