4 ways Ottawa is rewilding (and your city can, too)
This Canadian capital's land base might be small compared with the country as a whole, but it's got extra-large political impact.
As a capital city, Ottawa is used to fielding plenty of debate. But while opinions in Canada’s main political metropolis are plentiful and diverse, there’s one thing that everyone always agrees on: it’s a beautiful place to live. Gorgeous flowerbeds adorn nearly every park, private garden and public institution. Come May, the city is at its most colourful thanks to millions of tulips, the legacy of wartime friendship with the Netherlands.
However, there’s more to Ottawa than manicured lawns and pretty petals. Thanks to multiple grassroots efforts, Ottawa’s bountiful greenery is getting more sustainable as rewilding efforts are on the rise. Here are four projects that deserve attention and support.
Why now: Why rewilding is a priority
As one of the world’s coldest and snowiest capital cities, Ottawa is no stranger to extreme weather – and it’s not just the winters that are challenging. Summers are intense. In recent years, studies of the urban heat island effect in both Ottawa and nearby Montreal have indicated that the cities’ urban land can raise surface temperatures by up to 12°C. And according to one study, residents should be ready for even more heat. Like elsewhere on this warming planet, average temperatures in Ottawa are expected to rise significantly this century.
Urban rewilding efforts are one way for cities such as Ottawa to mitigate the effects of climate change and help support biodiversity and human comfort. Green spaces, for instance, help lower temperatures while providing shade, and embracing a diversity of native plants for greening efforts can boost wildlife habitat and the resilience of the land. Protecting the city’s waterways so that refreshing swims are possible for humans and other species alike also benefits the wider community, as does spreading awareness so more people understand the benefits of urban rewilding projects.
Alexandra De Vylder
The brewery serving up inspiration
The team at Dominion City Brewing Co. prioritizes sustainability – at home and at work. Josh McJannett, for instance, the cofounder of this popular east end microbrewery, has rewilded his own front lawn.
“My kids love watching the birds, rabbits, toads and even wild turkeys who now claim some of our suburban front yard as their own,” he says. “We try to incorporate some of this thinking at the brewery, too. We’ve grown a literal ‘beer garden’ providing organic produce for our local food cupboard for several years. This year we added wildflowers and perennial native plants and took over a barren patch of grass that’s now host to brown-eyed susans, sunflowers and other plants that grew so dense they’ve become a home to a local groundhog, among other visitors.”
McJannett and his team are also spreading the word about sustainability through the Dominion City Conservation Society, which offers quarterly meetups featuring guest speakers such as Rachel Buxton, a conservation scientist and key organizer behind the Save Ontario Wetlands campaign. “We built this speaker series that’s found a really cool niche of customers interested in learning and getting together around these issues,” he says – the issues in question including habitat restoration, fish diversity, protecting farmland, ensuring food security and saving wetlands.
Katharine Reid
The library sharing seeds and support
Dominion City Brewing Co. isn’t the only group of wildflower enthusiasts in town. Thanks to the efforts of Mélanie Ouellette, native seeds are reaching thousands of gardens in and around Ottawa. Ouellette is the founder of the Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library. She knows that when she and her volunteers distribute native wildflower seeds to individuals, schools and community gardens, they’re not just providing access to cheerful blooms like dense blazing star (Liatris spicata), black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta) and red cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis). They’re offering Ottawa residents a tool to better understand the power of caring for the land.
“Seeds are our teachers,” says Ouellette. “They’re small but very mighty.” Even small-scale wildflower gardens, such as those planted on balconies, can generate a wealth of knowledge. “We have lost the teachings about the land – we have to go back and learn from scratch all over again,” Ouellette adds. “Your piece of land or your balcony acts like your learning land, so you’re testing it for a few years, see how it works and how the plants react.” She jokingly observes that when you start to date a person, it can take a long time to get to know them. Connecting with the land is no different. Ouellette has observed that allowing people to experiment with seeds at no cost makes rewilding accessible, affordable and – perhaps most importantly – fun.
The charity culling invasive plants
Another group harnessing the power of community is the team at Ottawa Riverkeeper. This charitable organization, a champion for the Ottawa River watershed, counts invasive species awareness and rewilding efforts among its extensive portfolio of environmental projects. Team members have organized Trap and Transfer days to help with American eel migration (the endangered species has declined by 99 percent in the past 40 years) and run educational campaigns to alert boaters to the risk of invasive zebra mussels, which are threatening the Ottawa River’s native hickorynut, a little-known river mussel. They’re also on a mission to save baby turtles. Their Tiny Turtle Takeover project raised the hatch rate of turtles on Petrie Island from 5 to 83 percent.
The success of these projects depends on a comprehensive knowledge of the Ottawa River and the surrounding watershed. CEO Laura Reinsborough has a small army of volunteers by her side, thanks to Ottawa Riverkeeper’s community scientist program. The community scientists help monitor the well-being of the river and the broader watershed by reporting invasive species, among other efforts, and their work is invaluable. “Every single point of data we receive helps us tell that comprehensive picture of river health,” Reinsborough says. “It makes a difference to understand what’s happening in different parts of the watershed.” Each contribution also generates hope and optimism. Reinsborough shares that musician Joan Baez’s famous quote “Action is the antidote of despair” is a fittingly favourite motivator in her office.
The government groups prizing collaboration
As a capital city, Ottawa undoubtedly enjoys resources that other cities may not have, but it also has unique challenges to navigate. Multiple stakeholders representing multiple jurisdictions weigh in on every public project, and collaboration is essential to success. One organization leading the way is Parks Canada.
Juan Sanchez manages Laurier House National Historic Site, a downtown mansion once home to two prime ministers. It operates under an unusual model. Parks Canada is responsible for the house and its programs, while the grounds are under the National Capital Commission’s purview. Some people might find this challenging, but Sanchez sees the benefits of working together. “Every year, I meet with the National Capital Commission,” he says, “and we discuss the plants. What annuals can be planted, what about perennials? What type of shrubs would have been present at a certain time?”
The two organizations have a secret weapon to help them with their plans. They rely on an archaeological study from the 1990s, which provides a wealth of information regarding historical plant pollen. Combined with an extensive photography collection, they can determine what plants were used and where, making the grounds as historically accurate as possible and eliminating non-native species that lack heritage value. One plant that’s no longer in Laurier House’s flowerbeds? Ottawa’s own iconic tulip. Historical sources show they were never included in the former prime ministers’ gardens, and of course they aren’t native to North America either.
Ottawa’s transformation is wild
Anyone who is eager to tackle environmental initiatives but feels overwhelmed by the scope of challenges and possibilities will take comfort in the words of Jessica Bull, CEO of the Green Party of Canada’s Ottawa Centre Electoral District Association. She applauds grassroots efforts to rewild Ottawa, as she sees how small groups can transform communities. “I think getting involved with small organizations where you’re part of a team does make you feel that much less powerless, as well as that much less alone,” she says.
Enterprising Ottawa residents have pushed businesses, nonprofits and community leaders to prioritize sustainability. Attendance has doubled at Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library events. The Ottawa River is now healthy enough to welcome wild swimming. Tickets to Dominion City Conservation Society events are snapped up fast. These are all big accomplishments, but Reinsborough highlights one in particular, one that in fact seems to be happening globally, not just locally. “I like the concept of how we are rewilding ourselves,” she says.
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