Rouge Park, 2017 (TFN Archives)
TFN’s is thrilled to have successfully hosted our second virtual lecture, Invading the Urban Ecosystem: Mechanisms, Impact and Management of Dog-strangling Vine presented to us by Stuart Livingstone, Lecturer, Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, U of T-Scarborough and Post-doctoral Researcher: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, U of T. A recording of the presentation Read More
City-owned golf courses should be opened to public parkland use during COVID-19. Let’s ask the City to slow down and consult the public before renewing multi-year contracts with the golf course operators. Council is on the brink of quietly renewing these contracts at the Sept. 30 Council meeting. Meanwhile, cities across North America are exploring Read More
TFN Members are invited to review our most recent Financial Statements (June 30, 2020), prepared by Peter W. Hogg, Chartered Professional Accountant. These include our statements of financial position, fund operations and cash flows. Download 2020 TFN Financial Statement Read More
September 13, 2020, saw TFN’s first ever virtual lecture, “The Endangered Redside Dace: Can we recover it before it disappears?” presented to us by Erling Holm, Assistant Curator of Fishes at the Royal Ontario Museum. Erling’s presentation, and the Q&A period that followed, were recorded for the enjoyment of those unable to attend: Our Zoom Read More
Back in January we posted that the City had agreed to help protect what may well be the oldest and most historically-important tree in Toronto by purchasing a residential property on Coral Gable Dr., with the intention of converting the land in to a parkette. The catch? By Council’s direction, completion of the sale is Read More
Lydia Wong, a PhD student from the University of Ottawa is hoping to launch a project to explore the impacts of a warming and drying climate on pollinator populations, specifically bees. If you have a garden in Toronto, preferably one with lots of flowering plants that attract pollinators, and are willing to have 2 artificial nesting structures (‘bee/wasp Read More
The Ontario government plans to open habitat of endangered and threatened species to destructive aggregate extractions in the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GCH). Ontario Nature has uncovered this change (hidden in dry technical text) and has stated in a letter to the ministry: “Your ministry is now proposing to undermine this higher level of protection by Read More
“Rebel botanists” are loose in our cities, wandering laneways and back alleys armed with pockets full of sidewalk chalk and keen identification skills. Their goal? To open people’s eyes to the botanical wonders right under their feet, slipping out from between fence boards, and poking out from between people’s prized peonies. Botanical chalking is a Read More
Lockdown, physical distancing, and other pandemic-related rules & regulations upended virtually all of TFN’s various programs and initiatives, but few were hit quite as hard as our Junior Naturalists Program. Once a month our Juniors & their parents would take to Toronto’s parks & ravines, learning to appreciate and respect Toronto’s natural heritage through hikes, Read More
As in previous years, TFN will again be sponsoring students in the GTA to attend Ontario Nature’s annual Youth Summit for Biodiversity and Environmental Leadership – rebranded for 2020 as the Virtual Youth Summit for Mother Earth! For four Saturday afternoons in August & September this summit will bring together youth from dozens of communities Read More
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.