Free Community Programs
Call us anytime to learn about our programs at 905-562-3819 or email us at ontariogreenca@gmail.com
BOOK A SPEAKER FOR YOUR CLUB OR COMMUNITY EVENT
Looking for a speaker for your next meeting?
Service clubs, libraries, nature groups and other community organizations
are encouraged to contact Ontariogreen. Our presentations are provided
free of charge though donations or honorariums are always appreciated.
Advocacy in Action —
Community Leadership on The Issues That Matter
In 2003, when Liz Benneian was editor of a community newspaper
in Oakville, she didn’t realize that a complaint about trees being taken down
in parks and ravines, and not being replanted, would change her life.
Two years later she was the president of a citizens’ organization that took
on the pesticide industry, the development industry, the incinerator industry,
and the local political establishment, and won. She would go on to help more
than 30 different groups around Ontario get organized to win their own battles.
In 2008, feeling a bit battle worn, Liz and her family decided to relocate to a
quieter life in Niagara. Little did they know that her work was only just beginning.
Alien Invaders! Invasive Plants
How to spot invasive plants in our gardens and garden centres and what to plant instead. A list of native plant nurseries is also provided.
Bringing Nature Back: Local Naturalization Projects in West Niagara
Two community native garden projects are explored in this presentation: the Val Fleming Butterfly Garden and Miyawaki Mini forest in the Town of Lincoln, the Grand Old Oak Rejuvenation Project in Grimsby Beach and Liz Benneian’s own reforestation/naturalization project on her 3.7-acre property in Lincoln. Learn what a little cooperation between charitable groups like Oakvillegreen, donors and funders and municipal partners can do to restore nature in our communities!
Combatting Climate Change: Top 10 Things You Can Do
This presentation looks at:
* Greenhouse gas emissions by source in Ontario that will give you an idea
of how much you can impact
* Our personal daily activities that generate GHGs
* How we can lower the GHGs we directly generate through our actions,
personal choices, consumer decisions and political work as engaged
citizens.
Creating A Healthy Urban Forest
This presentation examines the challenges of growing healthy trees in an urban environment and then explores the policies and practices municipalities can employ to help urban trees reach their full potential. The presentation also looks at how citizens can successfully lobby their Councils to enact the right measures to keep their communities green, improve the green infrastructure benefits of a healthy urban forest, mitigate the impacts of climate change, protect biodiversity and make their parks and urban areas more attractive spaces.
Designing for Biodiversity: Turning yards and gardens into habitat
This presentation takes a brief look at the state of biodiversity in the Carolinian zone and makes a case for why it’s critical that we all make an effort to restore habitat in our own spaces. The presentation provides tips about native plants, creating all season abundance, vertical layering, keystone species, attractants for particular species and more.
Good Urban Planning: A solution to multiple challenges
This presentation guides you through a very brief history of planning policy in Ontario and then examines how good urban planning policy is the key to solving our most thorny problems including:
* creating more affordable housing
* reducing the municipal tax burden
* making life more affordable in general
* easing congestion
* protecting our farmlands and natural areas
* mitigating the impacts of the Climate Crisis
* promoting more social cohesion and more supportive communities.
Living With Coyotes
Based on expert advice, this presentation explores all aspects of this intelligent and very adaptive animal while also teaching what to do if you encounter a coyote.
Native Trees and Shrubs
A detailed look at several native trees and shrub species, including keystone species, and the native creatures they support, plus planting and maintenance tips.
Ontario’s Greenbelt
This presentation takes a brief look at bi-partisan efforts to protect Southern Ontario’s key agricultural lands and environmental areas which eventually resulted in the creation of the world’s largest Greenbelt. It explores some of the Greenbelt’s unique geographical areas and quantifies the many economic, recreational, and green infrastructure it provides. It includes a cautionary note about the continuing threats it faces and offers suggestions on how we can each help to preserve it.
Plants for Pollinators
A look, by season, at native flowers, & a few shrubs and trees, that support our bees, butterflies and birds and other native creatures.
The Edible Garden: Designing for Your Table and Biodiversity
This presentation takes a look at native plants, from trees and shrubs to flowers and ferns, that can be made into a variety of dishes and accompaniments to add variety to your cooking endeavours. Also provided, tips on growing a food forest and where to find native plants. A list of recipes is also provided.
Tips For Tree Keepers:
Selecting, planting, maintaining and seed saving
A wide-ranging look at natives vs non-natives, keystone species, impacts of climate change, assisted migration, new pests and diseases, the basics of planting and pruning, optimizing root production and so much more.
Trumpeter Swans — A conservation success story
Eighty years ago, the world’s largest Swan, native only to North America was on the verge of extinction, in fact, the species had been extirpated in Ontario by 1886 when a hunter in Long Point shot the very last one. But that was not the end of their story. Learn how the efforts of a dedicated bunch of volunteers has brought this magnificent creature back from the brink so that today more than 2,000 Trumpeters can be found flying free in Ontario.