A Message from Our Executive Director

Our new Executive Director, Andrés Jiménez Monge, is eager to connect with many of you in the months ahead. His commitment is to listen, learn, support and walk alongside you as we navigate the complex challenges that ecosystems in Ontario face today. Please take a moment to listen to this video.

Bill 5 Talking Points

In our joint efforts and conversations about the harm of Bill 5, we heard from many of our member groups, individual members and other supporters and partners that a tool to help respond to the arguments in favour of the bill would be helpful. We listened and created a new resource just for this! It presents some of the common statements supporting Bill 5, why we disagree with them and what to say in response. We hope you will find this helpful and welcome your feedback.

New Member Groups Galore!

Our Nature Network keeps growing! Already in 2025, we have had 5 new groups officially join the Nature Network. It is wonderful to continue to grow our reach and collaboration to help protect wild species and wild spaces across the province! Please join us in welcoming:

• 10,000 Trees for the Rouge – Formed in 1989, its mission is to protect ecosystems of public open spaces and parks in the Greater Toronto Region, including the Rouge River watershed, by planting trees, and preserving and restoring the natural habitat.
• Citizens for Marshland Conservation – Formed in 2003, its mission is to conserve and restore wetlands in the Eastern Ontario townships of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.
• Friends of Swan Lake Park – Located in Markham and formed in 2019,  their mission is to foster a sustainable level of biodiversity and public enjoyment of Swan Lake and Swan Lake Park.
• Pelee Island Centre for Butterflies and Nature – Formed in 2022, its mission is to promote and protect Pelee Island’s biodiversity through tours, programs and events at the butterfly sanctuary and teaching garden.
• Save Lemoine Point Farm – Formed in 2022, its mission is to encourage the conservation of the Kingston, Ontario property known as Lemoine Point Farm.

2025 Youth Summit for Mother Earth – Sponsorship Deadline Extended!

We are pleased to let you know that we have extended the sponsorship deadline for the 2025 Youth Summit for Mother Earth for interested groups. Starting this year, we are offering a tiered sponsorship approach for the Youth Summit to better reflect the true cost of youth attending. Sponsorship is key to the success of this program – whether it’s finding youth to attend within your local community, or monetary contributions that enable us to host workshops, cover travel costs and ultimately support and sponsor youth to attend.

We value our relationship with our Nature Network and are deeply grateful for the ongoing support that member groups have demonstrated for the Youth Summit. We could not hold such a successful event without you!

The new deadline to let us know whether you would like to support one of our giving tiers is August 29. To learn more about the 2025 Youth Summit sponsorship tiers please review our 2025 Youth Summit Sponsorship Package.

Collaborating for Local Wetland Protection

On August 6 Ontario Nature joined Nature Network members Kingston Field Naturalists and Turtles Kingston, and other local organizations, in making a joint submission on the City of Kingston’s natural heritage system. In this, we recommend that Kingston adapt a more comprehensive approach to conserving all local wetlands, irrespective of their classification. For many Kingston residents, threats to the Butternut Creek have heightened the urgency of these measures. In the near future, we hope to build on these recommendations to secure lasting policy reforms that ensure local communities in Kingston and across the province can benefit from wetlands all around them. We thank all signatories and look forward to more collaboration!

Before You Go 

• Read our joint letter on the removal of lands from Wasaga Beach Provincial Park and share your concerns with your MPP. We also sent a letter to the federal government to help protect the plover habitat that could be lost in this move. Here’s a video that summarizes the issue.
• West Lake Community Association is hosting an Environmental Symposium in Prince Edward County on September 27, with speakers, lunch, etc. Registration required.
• Submit your volunteer needs to our volunteer board by August 25 for inclusion in the September volunteer newsletter.

Events 

See our events calendar for a complete listing of events organized by Ontario Nature and Nature Network groups.

To submit your public events to our online calendar, email them to noahc@ontarionature.org and allow up to a week for posting. Please send only events that are open to the public and no more than three per month.