WC136 MayJune 2024 - Magazine - Page 12
WATERSHEDS CANADA
dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) and silver maple (Acer saccharinum),
promotes long-term shoreline stabilization and climate change resilience by binding the soil and acting as a natural barrier to reduce
surface runoff and slow rising floodwaters. This vegetation also
moderates temperatures, protects water quality, filters pollutants
and excess nutrients, and inputs woody debris and organic matter
into the lake. Once I paddle along far enough out of view, that last
benefit will once again be utilized by the turtle.
Watersheds Canada’s flagship program, The Natural Edge,
ensures waterfront property owners, community groups, agricultural property owners, and municipalities have the knowledge,
tools, and native plants they need to restore shoreline health and
protect their local freshwater. By naturalizing along a lake, river,
creek, or tributary, people can take important steps to reduce
erosion and nutrient loading, and mitigate flood impacts.
wsp.com
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WATER C AN ADA • M AY/JUNE 2024
Since 2013, The Natural Edge has been delivered in five
provinces, restoring 368,500 square metres of shoreline using
more than 143,200 native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. These
planting projects are supported by funders that recognize the
importance of nature-based solutions in promoting climate
resiliency for Canada’s freshwater. These supporters include
RBC’s Tech for Nature, Echo Foundation, and Coors Seltzer as
part of the Change the Course initiative, to name a few.These
restorations are equally successful because of individuals who see
how their own actions tie into the larger ecosystem. One participating landowner had this to say: “The Natural Edge provided
not only the means of ensuring a strong and stable shoreline
and protection of its inhabitants, it also reinforced the need to
conserve and protect what we have so it will continue to be here
for the enjoyment of generations to come. We have now become
custodians of our shoreline, not just property owners.”
Individuals and groups across Canada are seeing the importance each shoreline plays in protecting the health of the entire
freshwater body. Ensuring people and the resident wildlife can
use and enjoy the water means taking action on an individual and
collective level.Each action begins with a step. In the case of people
participating in The Natural Edge, this means having a staff member walk the property with them to provide training, education,
and information. Together, they discuss issues the land is facing,
like tree canopy loss due to a recent storm, or overland runoff and
more severe spring floods that are causing the shoreline to slump
and erode.A personalized restoration plan is then created using
native plant species best suited for the property based on Canada’s
hardiness zones and the property’s conditions. The Natural Edge
is a one-of-a-kind program that uses impactful technology with its
own iOS App that creates the restoration plans.
Created in under an hour, the customized planting plan is a
blueprint to take action. Individuals pick the plant species they
want that may produce fruit, attract certain wildlife species, or
grow to a certain height to protect waterfront views. After the
plan is created, it is time to get planting and then let nature do
what it does best as both the on-land and in-water plant communities regenerate.Protecting Canada’s freshwater areas takes
long-distance vision, something I am still working on when
looking for turtles on a lake. Shoreline restorations need many
years to take root and are most effective when they are done before major events impact the health of the waterbody. We would
all do well to be like the turtles: quick to act while valuing all
the different parts of a lake and its shoreline.
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
Monica Seidel)
A natural shoreline buffer with native species of grasses,
trees, shrubs, and wildflowers will contribute to the health
and beauty of the waterbody.
