Timeline: 2021 onwards
In 2021, Town of Ajax collaborated with TRCA and Ontario Nature as part of the Pathway to Canada Target 1 Initiative. This initiative has the goal of protecting 25% of Canada’s lands and inland waters by 2025 and 30% by 2030 (known as Canada Target 1) in order to protect and conserve biodiversity. In February 2022, the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) confirmed that the Carruthers Creek Wetland Complex was found to meet the national criteria for Protected Areas. All of the related information has been submitted to the Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD), which means that the Carruthers Creek Wetland Complex now counts towards the total percentage area of protected and conserved areas in Ontario and Canada.
The Carruthers Creek Wetland Complex is approximately 62 hectares (153 acres) and includes the coastal Carruthers Marsh, Carruthers Creek Forest, and the Warbler Woods/Shoal Point Marsh all south of Bayly.
Role of wetlands in carbon sequestration:
All wetlands sequester carbon from the atmosphere through plant photosynthesis and by acting as sediment traps for runoff. Carbon is held in the living vegetation as well as in litter, peats, organic soils, and sediments that have built up, in some instances, over thousands of years. Wetlands play a key role in regulating greenhouse gases and buffering the impacts of climate change.
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Municipality: Ajax, Durham Region
Action: Ecosystem Protection and Restoration
Category: Agriculture Forest and Other Land Use (AFOLU)