Restoration Techniques, citizen science, Featured research

Restoration and Research in Toronto's High Park

Spotted Sandpiper juvenile. Photo: Lu Liu

Stormwater Ponds in High Park

The wetlands, ponds and creeks in High Park are fed mainly through surface water and groundwater. Surface water, mostly in the form of stormwater runoff, is captured, conveyed and discharged mainly through the City’s storm sewer infrastructure. A small amount…

Learn More

Using the Secchi Disk. Photo: Katherine Pawling

Monitoring Water Quality in High Park’s Grenadier Pond

by High Park Nature Since 2002, volunteers have been regularly monitoring the water quality of Grenadier Pond through the Lake Partner Program. Improving the Water Quality of Grenadier Pond Grenadier Pond is a eutrophic body water, meaning that it is…

Learn More

Halloween Pennant male. Photo: Bob Yukich

Improvements for Wildlife

by Bob Yukich The restoration of terrestrial and aquatic habitats in High Park has helped bring back many species that once occurred here. New species may also be arriving due to other factors such as climate change and range extensions.…

Learn More

High Park’s rare Black Oak woodlands and savannahs, along with its other plant communities, provide a unique refuge for a wide range of flora and fauna in an urban environment. This sizeable natural parkland close to Toronto's waterfront is an oasis for resident rare plants and animals, and a safe haven for migrating birds and butterflies. It is also an invaluable resource to local residents and the wider scientific community and features an important centre for environmental education, the High Park Nature Centre.

Jump to Articles

Restoration

A major portion of High Park is designated as an Environmentally Significant Area (ESA) and most of this is also designated as an ANSI (Area of Natural and Scientific Interest).

Learn about the restoration challenges in High Park and the various techniques being used to meet these challenges.

Explore restoration in High Park

Research

Every year, numerous research studies and educational programs are conducted in High Park, ranging from elementary and high schools to post-secondary studies and post-graduate theses.

We encourage researches to share their ongoing projects and findings on this web-site.

Explore Research in High Park

What are ESAs?

Environmentally Significant Areas (ESAs) are natural spaces within Toronto's natural heritage system that require special protection to preserve their environmentally significant qualities. Toronto's Official Plan currently recognizes 86 Environmentally Significant Areas in the city. Development is not permitted in ESAs and activities are limited to those that are compatible with the preservation of their natural features and ecological functions.

"[High Park is] the last sizeable remaining natural area on the Iroquois Sand Plain. The park contains a sizeable remnant of black oak savannah, a globally and provincially rare plant community."
Environmentally Significant Areas in the City of Toronto, June 2012

2019 Map: Bright green shaded areas have ESA status. Source: CITY OF TORONTO MAPS

High Park Environmentally Significant Area (ESA) Factsheets

High Park's ESA Status based on 2012 ESA report, passed by City Council, November 2015. Tablelands were added to ESAs. Policies covering ESAs and ANSIs were also strengthened.
Notes on Planning and Natural Heritage Protection and Application to High Park, November 2014.
38. High Park ESA Factsheet, June 2012.
38A. High Park ESA Extension Factsheet, June 2012.
38. High Park ESA Map. Source: Environmentally Significant Areas in the City of Toronto, June 2012, Appendix 2
High Park ESA Report, December 2008 (with plant lists and map).

Learn more about Toronto's ESA's

1982

High Park was designated as an ESA

1989

High Park was designated a provincially significant ANSI

2015

High Park's Tablelands have been added to the map of Toronto's ESAs, bringing ESA area to 83.25 ha (51.7%) of High Park

What is an ANSI?

An ANSI is an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest. A total of 73 ha (45%) of High Park has been designated an ANSI. ANSIs are areas of land and water containing unique natural landscapes or features and are designated by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF). These features have been scientifically identified as having life or earth science values related to protection, scientific study or education.

ANSI Report - A Botanical Inventory and Evaluation of the High Park Woodlands, S. Varga, 1989. PDF (1Mb)
High Park Oak Woodlands Provincial Life Science ANSI Factsheet, 2009. PDF

The ANSI is protected for the long term by the Provincial Policy Statement and its guideline the Natural Heritage Reference Manual (NHRM). (Municipalities need to either follow the guideline or take measures that have the same effect and explain how the effect is achieved.)

Significant features should be protected by a buffer. One function of the buffer is to prevent the penetration of light and noise into the natural heritage feature (see Table 13-1 on page 130 of the NHRM). The minimum width of buffers to protect wildlife habitat should be 100m (NHRM page 136), and the buffer should have native vegetation.

Life science ANSIs are significant representative segments of Ontario’s biodiversity and natural landscapes, including specific types of forests, valleys, prairies, savannahs, alvars and wetlands, their native plants and animals, and their supporting environments. They contain relatively undisturbed vegetation and landforms, and their associated species and communities. Provincially significant life science ANSIs include the most significant and best examples of the natural heritage features in the province, and many will correspond to other significant features and areas such as wetlands, valleylands and woodlands.

ANSIs play an important role in the protection of Ontario’s natural heritage, since they best represent the full spectrum of biological communities, natural landforms and environments across Ontario outside of provincial parks and conservation reserves. In addition, ANSIs provide a focus for both public and private sectors to contribute to the protection of Ontario’s natural heritage.

Global (G) Conservation Status: G1

The plant community in High Park is ranked G1, i.e. critically imperiled on a global basis.

Critically Imperiled - At very high risk of extinction or elimination due to extreme rarity (often 5 or fewer populations), very restricted range, very few populations or occurrences, very steep declines, very severe threats, or other factors. See all ranks: Nature Serve

High Park Stewards

Volunteer Stewards have been working with the City of Toronto since 1996, to protect and restore the remaining natural areas of High Park.

Learn More

High Park Natural Environment Committee

Volunteer group that advises the City of Toronto on the protection and restoration of the natural environment of High Park.

Learn More

Aug - Sept 11 Gren Pond 073-Ken_Sharratt-e

Policies and Reports

High Park Toronto

Natural Heritage Policies Protecting High Park. PDF (109 Kb).
High Park Woodland and Savannah Management Plan, City of Toronto, 2002. PDF (2 Mb). The Parks and Environment Committee requested the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, to complete a review of the High Park Woodland and Savannah Management Plan and report back with recommendations, including funding options, by the fourth quarter of 2019.
High Park Protocol - A Discussion Paper, 1997 by Charles Kinsley. PDF (413 Kb).
Proposals for the Rehabilitation of Grenadier Pond et al, Gartner Lee, 1995. PDF (14 Mb).

City of Toronto Parks (laws, plans and strategies)

Parks Bylaw (Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 608).
Parkland Strategy – consultation underway for a 20-year plan.
Biodiversity in the City site and Toronto's Biodiversity Strategy, 2018.
Toronto Pollinator Protection Strategy, 2018.
Toronto Ravine Strategy, 2017.
Parks Plan. The 2013-2017 Parks Plan was adopted by City Council on May 7, 2013.
Natural Environment Trails Strategy, 2013. This strategy will help to ensure the protection of the City of Toronto’s natural areas while offering safe and enjoyable recreational opportunities for all natural environment users by creating a sustainable multi-use trail system.
For more related resources, visit ProtectNatureTO.

More about ESAs in Toronto

ESAs are meant to capture the most locally and regionally significant terrestrial natural areas within the City’s natural heritage system. The Official Plan identifies criteria for the identification of ESAs as follows.

Areas of land or water within the natural heritage system with any of the following characteristics:

habitats for vulnerable, rare, threatened or endangered plant and/or animal species and communities that are vulnerable, threatened or endangered within the City or the Greater Toronto Area; or
rare, high quality or unusual landforms created by geomorphological processes within the City or the Greater Toronto Area; or
habitats or communities of flora and fauna that are of a large size or have an unusually high diversity of otherwise commonly encountered biological communities and associated plants and animals; or
areas where an ecological function contributes appreciably to the healthy maintenance of a natural ecosystem beyond its boundaries, such as serving as a wildlife migratory stopover or concentration point, or serving as a water storage or recharge area.

A total of 2,698 ha or 4% of the City’s land area (66,750 ha) qualify as Environmentally Significant Areas. This is an area equivalent to almost 17 High Parks. (2018)