Niagara sites of South Western Region

About the Program
Niagara Operations sits on 3,700 acres of woodland and wetlands in Ontario, Canada, and is surrounded by residential area and farmland. The property runs along Twelve Mile Creek and Welland River, and lies adjacent to conservation land owned by Niagara Parks Commission, City of Niagara Falls, and City of St Catharine's. The team has provided high quality habitat and protected species at risk for over 2 decades in alignment with Ontario's Biodiversity Strategy. 

Practices and Impacts

• More than 100 songbird nest boxes have been installed since 2007 by staff and volunteers. These boxes are monitored every breeding season and cleaned annually for next year's boarders. The majority of the nesting boxes (83%) are being utilized, suggesting that the nesting boxes are providing useful habitat for a variety of bird species.
• The team builds structures to offset barn swallow nests that are removed or destroyed due to operational practices. Monitoring information is shared with the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas program to help better inform scientists' understanding of barn swallow populations in Southwestern Ontario. 
• Niagara College Bat Habitat Restoration program students conducted a study to determine where bat boxes might be best used at SAB complex was and plans are in place to install bat box structures following the guidance from the Niagara College Habitat Restoration Program report. The team has also been performing acoustic monitoring for bat species.
• Protection guards are placed over snapping turtle nests each year during breeding season to guard hatchlings from disturbance or predation. 
• The team partners with local farms and uses goat grazing to address invasive vegetation. 
• Employees participate in an annual photo contest of wildlife on site, which is compiled into a collaborative calendar.