Emily Southwood
During the past year, environmental group Ambioterra has conducted improvement and conservation work on the properties of five different Haut-Saint Laurent landowners. The effort is part of a project to improve and protect biodiversity in the English River watershed. Since 2009, the St-Chrysostôme group has been working to reduce the threat to several endangered species in the aquatic and riverine ecosystem, such as the channel darter (a very small fish, measuring between 34 and 72 millimetres in length); the monarch butterfly (which migrates all the way to the mountains of Mexico during the course of its life cycle); and the bobolink (a grassland songbird that migrates both to and from Argentina every year).
The first project began last spring on a farm bisected by the English River in Hemmingford Township. The initial work was accomplished by the Hemmingford Environment Committee and the Girl Guides, and subsequently was continued in autumn by Ambioterra. At its finish, 2,500 square metres of riverbank had been improved by planting trees, fruiting shrubs (which songbirds feed on), and milkweed (which is the sole source of both egg-laying sites for monarch butterflies and food for the larvae that hatch). Other riverbank improvement projects were located in the Municipality of Howick, where work was accomplished in autumn 2018 by the Ambioterra team, alongside four volunteers. In all, another 810 square metres of riverbank were improved — a huge success for the environmental group.
Biologist Priscilla Gareau, the director-general of Ambioterra, explains the importance of this rejuvenation: “These projects will encourage the presence of endangered or vulnerable target species, will contribute to improving the quality of water in the river, and will provide badly needed protection for the multitude of other species that live in or near the aquatic and riverine ecosystem. We want to thank our volunteers and team members. We couldn’t have done it without you!”
Special thanks to Ambioterra for content.