Outreach Talk: Toronto’s Ravines: Nature and History at Your Doorstep

Date: Mar 19, 2025 at 14:00
Meeting Location: Program Room, Wychwood Library, 1431 Bathurst Street

Join our former president, Ellen Schwartzel, on Wednesday, March 19th, at 2 pm for a one-hour talk on Toronto’s ravines.

Details here: https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMEVT541082&R=EVT541082

Toronto’s ravine landscapes are not just a sanctuary for wildlife; they also protect the city against flooding and allow us to enjoy nature at our doorsteps. On behalf of the Toronto Field Naturalists, this speaker shares how the ravines are changing over time; how they are responding to numerous pressures and how you can explore and help protect them. Drop-in, no registration required!

Presenter Bio:
Ellen Schwartzel, a former president of the Toronto Field Naturalists, continues to enjoy leading nature walks through Toronto’s ravines. Ellen’s career in environmental policy included 23 years with the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. She was Ontario’s Deputy Environmental Commissioner for four years until retiring in 2018. Ellen’s academic training was in Botany, and she received her BSc and MSc at the University of Toronto.

Toronto Field Naturalists wishes to acknowledge this Land through which we walk. For thousands of years, the Land has been shared by the Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, and the Anishinaabe. Toronto is situated on the Land within the Toronto Purchase, Treaty 13, the traditional and treaty Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This territory is also part of the Dish with One Spoon Wampum, a covenant agreement between Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Wendat peoples and allied nations to peaceably share the land and all its resources. Today, the Land is home to peoples of numerous nations. We are all grateful to have the opportunity to continue to care for and share the beauty of this Land.