Creeks, Rivers, and what about
Trees?
A country drive
looking at degraded Sub-Watersheds and
Stripped Riparian Zones.
Rating Well... Ok. But a lot more could be done and these people have the resources to do it.
We are looking at Bronte Creek just east of Walkers Line, flowing south towards Lake Ontario. You can see the edge of the Niagara Escarpment - Mount Nemo, at the right of the photo.
This area may look good, but really, it's not. For starters, they need to stop cutting so much grass. This practically looks like a golf course to me. The problems with golf courses is a whole other topic of discussion.
Notice the edge of the embankment that the house is located on top of. Everything inside that embankment, the entire valley is the riparian zone. This valley is at a much lower altitude above sea level than the surrounding farmland, and therefore has it's own unique micro climate. The flat land either side of the creek would have been subjected to occasional flooding through the eons, and thus would have had much richer soils than the surrounding land. Trees would have been protected from the force of winter storms, and would have grown to larger sizes, with a greater mix of types.
This area was stripped generations ago along with the rest of the forest cover around here. Since this valley is so much more productive than the land either side of the embankment, it would have made excellent farmland, especially for vegetables and fruit production. To have this area continue as productive farmland is one of the objectives of the new Green Belt legislation and that is great. To have it destroyed by Urban sprawl would be a crime. Taking these points into account, what ever margin of land could be given back to the area along side the creek is also vary important to the health of life in the creek, and, further along down by the Lake..
Currently, any trees that do regenerate here are promptly knocked down, actually cut off, with carbon consuming equipment. So much for sequestering carbon. The creek is experiencing the full brunt of the sun. The owners of this property could easily have a "No-Cut-Zone" within a belt even with the fence on both sides of the creek, allowing passive regeneration. Better yet, they could have their own Earth Day event with friends and family planting tree seedlings along the creek and on the valley embankments.