City of Windsor Must Improve its Effort to Protect Natural Areas

Windsor, Ontario - The City of Windsor's remaining Candidate Natural Heritage Sites are threatened by development despite the limited efforts of the City over the years to protect these important green spaces. Thirty-eight Candidate Natural Heritage Site(s) (CNHS) were originally identified by an inventory completed for the City in December 1992.

Several CNHS have been destroyed or denuded of biological diversity as a result of human activity. Recently at CNHS #2, located in east Riverside (south of the Riverside Sportsmen Club), most of the trees were felled - including trees on the portion of the site owned by the City.

"We are concerned that the remaining natural heritage sites in Windsor are not being fully protected," stated Derek Coronado, Research and Policy Coordinator of the Citizens Environment Alliance. "A full investigation of the intentional destruction of the flora and fauna at CNHS #2 should be conducted by the City. Additionally there should be more comprehensive protection of these sites enacted by the City, including a comprehensive tree-cutting bylaw," Coronado stated.

The need to conduct an inventory of natural areas within Windsor was recognized by City Council in 1991. Limited CNHS protection was entrenched in the City of Windsor Official Plan. The Official Plan allows for development in or near a CNHS if a developer can show that the site is not environmentally significant and/or sensitive.

For more information contact:

Derek Coronado
Research and Policy Coordinator,
Citizens Environment Alliance
(519) 973-1116