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More Natural Places

Grand River Watershed Trails

A multitude of trails with a myriad of possible activities, the Grand River watershed boasts a considerable network of trails that allow visitors to walk, bike, horseback ride, and jog while enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Beverly Swamp

Situated in the Hamilton area, the Beverly Swamp is the largest and possibly the best representation of a lowland swamp forest in south central Ontario. The 2,400 hectares of the swamp span three watersheds – that of the Fairchild, Spencer and Bronte creeks – act as a natural sponge, maintaining the area’s hydrological balance. Designated as a unique Area of Natural and Scientific Interest, the swamp also drains into Lake Erie and Ontario. Parts of the swamp can be accessed through the Lafarge 2000 trail, and are excellent for bird watching and fishing.

The Greenbelt Foundation is

  • Contributing to greater sales of Greenbelt wines at the LCBO

  • Enhancing Farmers’ Markets, increasing sales for farmers in the Greenbelt and beyond

  • Funding visionary planning processes such as the new Cootes to Escarpment Park Management Plan, and a massive reforestation plan in Rouge Park

  • Supporting development of action plans for a variety of agricultural areas and commodities

  • Assisting in designing new policies to protect Lake Simcoe through timely research

  • Creating a network of Farmer’s Markets to help improve our local food economy

  • Developing a successful culinary tourism platform for Niagara

  • Securing local food procurement commitments for Peel schools, City of Toronto, City of Markham and others

  • Building a local food economy from developing new markets to enhancing distribution channels

  • Funding the Holland Marsh Growers’ transition from an export, commodity focus to one that serves the local market with value- added products

  • Supporting changing the City of Toronto policy to adopt a local food purchasing bylaw for city facilities

  • Securing local food procurement commitments for Peel, U of T. City of Toronto Facilities and Markham

  • Partnering with Harbourfront Centre to tell the story of Ontario’s Greenbelt to 12 million people via a year-long, outdoor photography exhibit

  • Successfully merging social welfare initiatives with environmental concerns

  • Creating Greenbeltfresh.ca, the leading electronic marketplace to source local, Greenbelt foods from over 600 producers

  • Hosting the successful Tour de Greenbelt to promote Ontario’s Greenbelt as a tourism destination

  • Participating strategically in growing the Greenbelt by working with Toronto, Peel, Halton, and Guelph

  • Supporting the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance to foster strong Greenbelt Plan implementation at the municipal level

  • Providing grants and support to significantly increase sales at farmers’ markets

  • Identifying barriers to opening markets for Greenbelt farmers and proposing solutions

  • Supporting tourism initiatives including in the Niagara and Caledon areas

  • Supporting the creation of an award-winning Greenbelt granola bar

  • Convincing Peel school boards to buy Greenbelt food for students

  • Contributing $2.65 million to Greenbelt farmers to improve their operations (leveraging millions of dollars from federal sources), and to employ the opportunities of the Green Energy Act

  • Supporting interested Greenbelt Farmers to Go Organic

  • Funding research and analysis on greenbelts around the globe which concluded that Ontario’s Greenbelt is the most robust in the world, with a strong legal and policy framework

  • Engaged Hamilton schools to switch to Greenbelt food for their students

  • Increasing amount of Greenbelt food in food share program 140%

  • Reaching over 75 million by placing 220 permanent highway and regional road signs to ensure Ontarians and visitors know about this valuable protected area

  • Supporting the creation of new multi-cultural crops and development of ethnic local food guides in Toronto and York Region

  • Bringing thousands of Ontarians out into the Greenbelt each year through grantee activities and the Annual Tour de Greenbelt cycling event

  • Bridging farming and hiking interests to acknowledge environmental progress by farmers

  • Supporting the development of multi-cultural crops and training new Canadian Farmers

  • Supporting food policy council in Durham to create food charter

  • Funding policy changes to encourage more local food to be sold in Durham

  • Hosted the first ever Global Greenbelts Conference in Toronto in March 2011 with speakers and delegates from over nine countries

  • Supporting the Credit Valley Conservation Authority to protect and restore wetlands

  • Engaging with over 170 million Ontarians directly through our marketing, events and communications activities

 
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The Greenbelt Blog

Plotting Your Greenbelt Farmers' Market Tour

May marks the beginning of the farmers’ market season. Your weekly market starts up, familiar faces reappear, and your neighbourhood is reenergized after the long winter months. To make sure...

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Dufferin Wellington Peel: total economic impact of Greenbelt ag, forestry, fishing rec & tourism = +$493M http://t.co/dMqj9cnI @TownofErin about 11 hours ago

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