Restoration

“Ecological restoration” is the process of supporting and assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that is degraded, damaged or destroyed.

Restoration is a key element of conservation, so it is important for Conservation Halton to identify strategic opportunities for restoration that will provide the most benefit to ecosystem function. As a result, restoration projects are often carried out on properties owned by Conservation Halton, as well as other privately-owned and publicly-owned properties, often in collaboration with municipal, provincial and federal partners, businesses and community groups.

These restoration projects not only make our communities more beautiful and create opportunities for recreation, but they provide habitat for wildlife species, improve the natural functions of our environments and make our watershed more resilient to climate change.

Project Management Services

Conservation Halton has an ecological restoration team with experience providing a range of restoration and conservation project management services to achieve positive outcomes for your project, the environment, and the community.

Some areas of specialty include:

  • Ecosystem Restoration Planning, Design and Implementation
    • Creek
    • Shoreline
    • Wetland
    • Riparian
    • Forest
    • Grassland
  • Low Impact Development
  • Construction Management
  • Erosion and Sediment Control
  • Natural Channel Design
  • Species at Risk and Wildlife Habitat
  • Invasive Species Management
  • Restoration Plantings & Bioengineering
  • Prescribed Burns
  • Monitoring Requirements

Our Approach

With over 50 years of experience protecting, restoring, and managing the natural resources in the watershed, and serving the residents of our communities, Conservation Halton maximizes the expertise of our staff and the resources of our partners to ensure efficient and effective outcomes from project development to implementation, to support our core mandate of watershed management. Project management staff, who are trained as restoration ecologists, manage the project from beginning to end. This streamlined approach to planning, implementation, and monitoring helps ensure that there is transparency, accountability, reliability and timeliness.

Planning

Our in-house restoration team is qualified to complete a variety of detailed project designs, but for projects that require stamped engineering drawings, designs are completed through a public procurement process. Conservation Halton works with in-house staff and consultants to ensure projects that meet or exceed client expectations as well as planning and permitting requirements. Conservation Halton is focused on innovative and practical solutions, high quality designs and a smooth permitting process, thanks to our experience with regulatory agencies.

Implementation

Conservation Halton takes a hands-on approach to construction management in order to ensure that actions throughout the implementation stage are successful. As an additional benefit, our team often performs tasks such as site preparation, invasive species management, planting, wildlife habitat feature installation, and monitoring, as part of project implementation. Also, we often find solutions for local material use and re-use as a result of our many local partnerships, which reduce project cost.

Compensation Services

Conservation Halton staff are experienced in securing and implementing projects to satisfy a variety of compensation requirements to be completed through your project approval. For instance, our team has extensive knowledge of the Endangered Species Act and project opportunities to fulfill overall benefit requirements, as well as restoration services resulting from Fisheries Act Fish Habitat Compensation, environmental assessment processes, municipal tree by-laws and others.

Service Fees

Fee-for-service conservation agreements outline the responsibilities of Conservation Halton and the client. Conservation Halton charges a full cost-recovery for services. Previous clients have included municipalities, the province of Ontario, utility service providers, members of the development community, and many more.

For more information, contact us at restoration@hrca.on.ca