High Park Stewards meet on the 2nd & 4th Sundays of each month, rain or shine.
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New England Aster

grow summer plants for pollinators and beauty

20th Anniversary Infographic Designed by Magali Rotoullié

For those of us who care about the environment and the survival of creatures of all kinds, finding a way to actually do something to help them survive, enhances our own lives and will be a legacy to be proud of.

Volunteer Stewards have been working with the City of Toronto since 1996, to protect and restore the remaining natural areas of High Park including large areas of Savannah with Black Oak trees and related flora and fauna. During the spring, summer and fall we plant, collect seeds, and remove invasive species from restoration sites.

Our sessions are held on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month except December from 10:30 am. to 1:00 pm rain or shine.

A few of our dedicated Buckthorn Busters

In front of one of many piles collected in the fall of 2010

For work sessions, we meet in front of the Grenadier Restaurant and go to our work sites from there. Tools are provided but dress covering your arms, legs and feet. Bring a hat, sunscreen and water.

Winter sessions are primarily educational and are held at the Howard Park Tennis Club, 430 Parkside Drive.

For additional information on our program and to be added to the email notification list contact stewards@highparknature.org

Community Involvement in the Restoration of High Park pdf - paper on the history of the Volunteer Stewardship Program, 1999

Article in SNAPD May 2014

Summary of High Park Stewards Plantings from 2007 to 2014 - Close to 20,000 plants planted in 8 years!

For our hands-on work, all Stewards need to sign a City waiver document once a year. To save time at the sessions please print and fill out these 2 pages prior to coming (beginning Feb. 12, 2017). We will also have them on site. Enter the dates as 12 months From Jan 1, 2017 To Dec. 31, 2017 Waiver Form

Stewards Projects and Levels of Membership

There are exciting opportunities for hands-on and educational sessions as well as new projects to enhance the natural areas of the park. We are a program under the direct responsibility of City of Toronto Urban Forestry and provide volunteer training and are developing committees/task leaders to enable us to use the expertise within our group to increase our knowledge and the effectiveness of our program. We hope that this will create a more rewarding and enjoyable volunteer experience.

Volunteers may choose between two basic types of membership, core and casual. Casuals will be those who attend on a very infrequent basis. Core volunteers will be working behind the scenes on committees, becoming subject specialists, attending a special training session, providing leadership within our sessions and/or committing to attend a number of sessions during the year or regularly during specific seasons. This will create continuity and ensure that we have enough people to attain our goals.

Benefits of core membership will include participation in special activities with priority given to the core group members including greenhouse and native plant nursery events (where working space is limited), educational field trips and city-wide stewardship forums and workshops.

Get more involved

If you have a desire to become more involved and/or expertise in a wide variety of areas that could enhance our group, please see this document Stewards Additional Work (pdf) and let us know how you would like to participate. Contact stewards@highparknature.org and let us know of your interests.

Some of our Ongoing Projects

• Grenadier Restaurant Boulevard Beds
• Education Session Planning Group
• Communications (including Facebook and Twitter)
• High Park Resource Group

If anyone is interested in becoming a co-chair, a session greeter or working on any special projects including the Boulevard Beds please let me know.

If you would like to be added to the list please email stewards@highparknature.org.

Special thanks to our volunteers

Special thanks to our Communication team: Aaron Wieland (web and publication postings, to Karen Yukich for starting and maintaining this website, to Leslie Gooding and Bill Montague for their work with the High Park Resource Group and other activities, to Tanya Aggett for catering and financial services, to Sharon Lovett for membership admin and to Henny Markus, Terry Fahey and Mary Cole for the Boulevard Beds redesign.

How to Restore a site