Rare Charitable Research Reserve, Tom Woodcock, Jack Robinson, Brittany Killingbeck, Alissa Fraser. Cambridge, ON

The rare Habitat Corridor Project is an initiative to restore former agricultural lands in Cambridge Ontario. The total restoration area covers approximately 26 acres and will connect two remnant old-growth forests at rare’s Blair property along the Grand River. These old-growth remnants contain wetlands and historically supported breeding populations of Jefferson-complex salamanders. The two farm fields between the old-growth remnants have been gradually retired and transitioned to tallgrass prairie and meadow since 2009. Trees have been planted since 2014 to develop an 80 m wide corridor between the forest remnants. This project is supported in part by federal and provincial species at risk funding that will enable activities including construction of four new breeding ponds for Jefferson-complex salamanders, a snake hibernaculum, and pit and mound topography, along with additional tree and shrub planting. Join to learn more about this restoration project and rare’s broader work in conservation, research and education.

Ignatius Jesuit Centre, Heather Lekx and Ashley Conrard. Guelph, ON

Participants will take part in a 3 km hike through a diverse landscape of wetlands, forests, meadows, agricultural lands, and naturalized areas, visiting restoration sites at different stages of implementation and long-term management. Built on more than two decades of community partnerships, education, and stewardship, IJC’s work offers an opportunity to explore what restoration looks like when it becomes an ongoing part of managing a large, multifunctional property.

The field visit will focus on integrated invasive species management and ecological restoration, including invasive species removal and suppression, biotic resistance plantings, and the use of biological controls. Participants will learn about a new Phragmites biological control nurse site, developed in partnership with rare Charitable Research Reserve, and explore how emerging restoration technologies can be incorporated alongside non-chemical approaches and long-term site management.

Throughout the morning, IJC staff and project partners will share practical lessons from restoration in progress—including technical approaches that have worked, challenges encountered, and how restoration sites are monitored, adapted, and managed over time. The tour will also explore emerging circular-economy approaches to invasive species management, including ongoing work investigating opportunities to reuse invasive plant biomass.

A central theme of the visit will be the role of community partnerships, volunteers, education, and ongoing stewardship in advancing restoration at a landscape scale. Participants will see how conservation, agriculture, public programming, and ecological restoration can be integrated across a large property, and how partnerships with researchers, community organizations, and volunteers can help sustain this work. 

The field trip will highlight both the opportunities and practical challenges of restoring and protecting natural spaces within and around growing communities. More broadly, it will demonstrate how landscape-scale restoration is not a single project or end point, but an ongoing process of adaptive management, property protection, and community stewardship.