Pelee Island
Restored wetland, Pelee Island, ON (Photo by NCC)
Restoring Ontario’s deep south
Nature Conservancy of Canada’s largest restoration project in Lake Erie
The most southerly inhabited part of Canada, Pelee Island is the largest of the Canadian Western Lake Erie Islands, an archipelago of 22 islands spanning the border of Ohio and Ontario. The nine Canadian islands are among the most biologically diverse areas in Canada and support a high density of rare species. The islands also form two globally significant Important Bird Areas. Pelee Island is home to many rare and at-risk species including monarch, gray fox, yellow-breasted chat, blue ash, Lake Erie watersnake and blue racer snake. Some of these species are at the northern edge of their range, meaning that in Canada they are found only on Pelee Island.
Grey-headed coneflower, Pelee Island, ON (photo by NCC)
This is why for over 20 years the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) has been working to conserve this special place. To date, NCC has conserved over 425 hectares of globally rare shoreline, alvar and forest habitat, representing more than 10 per cent of the island.
Most recently, we completed a massive restoration project, which included creating a 25-hectare wetland, restoring eight hectares of upland habitat, tackling invasive phragmites, and creating new trails and signage to welcome island visitors and the local community to this special place.
Over 10 years ago, NCC began to transform the former agricultural fields here into thriving native meadows and small wetlands. In many places these marginal agricultural lands were already quite wet and it was clear to our conservation staff that they were once wetlands. These restored habitats are now teeming with wildlife, including species at risk such as monarch and snapping turtle.
Quick facts
Gray fox pup (Photo by Ken Canning)
Location: Island in Lake Erie, 32 kilometres south of the Ontario mainland
Habitat type: Alvars, forests, restored wetlands, dunes and beaches
Size: 4,121 hectares (10,183 acres)
Species: Gray fox, yellow-breasted chat, blue ash, Lake Erie watersnake, blue racer, wood duck, great blue heron, eastern kingbird, purple martin, blue-headed vireo
Creating our biggest wetland yet
Florian Diamante Nature Reserve before wetland restoration (Photo by Jill Crosthwaite/NCC staff)
In 2018, NCC and Ducks Unlimited Canada partnered to create an extensive 25-hectare wetland on Pelee Island.
As you look around the Florian Diamante Nature Reserve, you will see that much of the surrounding landscape is farmland. Prior to European settlement, Pelee Island was a series of smaller islands connected by marshes. In the late 1800s, a series of canals was dug and pumphouses were installed to drain the marsh for agriculture. Until 2020, the marsh that the wildlife-viewing blind now looks over was also farmed for soybeans. Historical maps from before the marsh was drained show the treeline to the east as the edge of the former marsh.
Conservation volunteers tree planting during the wetland restoration at the Florian Diamante Nature Reserve (Photo by Jill Crosthwaite/NCC staff)
This field offered a great opportunity for us to restore some of the wetland habitat that had been lost from the island. In 2018, we hired experts to draft a plan to create as much wetland as possible at this site. It included the construction of a 1.5-kilometre berm made from clay excavated from within the wetland basin to create a 24-hectare wetland. This would become the largest wetland restoration project completed by NCC in Ontario.
Because this was such a large project, we spent 2019 fundraising and planning. By 2020, we had raised the funds needed from a wide range of private, government and corporate donors, allowing us to begin construction in fall 2020. Construction took many months to complete. Old drainage tiles (a network of pipes laid under agricultural fields to help quickly drain water away) had to be broken and the berm carefully constructed. Topsoil was cleared from the berm footprint and a trench, or “key,” dug along its length. Clay subsoil was excavated from within the future wetland basin and packed into the key, then built up into a clay core and covered with topsoil. The key helps make the berm very strong and able to withstand the weight of the water in the wetland once it is full.
Inside the wildlife-viewing blind at the Florian Diamante Nature Reserve (Photo by Gen Pintel/NCC staff)
Once complete, the berm had to rest, settle and grow vegetation cover before the wetland could be allowed to fill. While rainfall is the only water source, part of the wetland design includes a water control structure built into the berm. This allows us to control the height of the water, so that the wetland doesn’t fill too quickly. It also gives us the option of draining some of the water in the future to create different types of habitats such as mudflats for shorebirds.
Wildlife viewing blind at the Florian Diamante Nature Reserve, ON (Photo by Jill Crosthwaite/NCC staff)
The berm and all of the surrounding upland areas were planted with native species that were collected by hand on Pelee Island. We were careful to only source our seed locally, as there may be genetic differences between plants found on the island and the mainland. We also enlisted the help of a local nursery to give some of our seeds a head start by growing them into seedlings that were later planted by volunteers.
Florian Diamante Nature Reserve wetland on Pelee Island, ON (Photo by Gen Pintel/NCC staff)
As a final step, we wanted to welcome visitors to this special place. In early 2023, construction of the viewing blind was completed. We also created a trail around the outside of the wetland to connect the viewing blind with an existing trail. It took us five years from the start of planning to the completion of this project, and the work doesn’t stop there! We will continue to maintain the berm, viewing blind and trail, while also monitoring for invasive species like phragmites.
We hope you will get to see this site grow and change over the years. To support our ongoing stewardship work on Pelee Island and across the province, donate at the link below.