Essex Region Conservation is working to bring back more wetland to the area and has finished its latest project near Amherstburg.
"What we've done is actually create a new wetland," says Danielle Breault Stuebing, director of communications and outreach at the authority. "This is a 1.2 acre wetland that's been created on County Rd. 50 near Holiday Beach."
The new wetland was dug out with an excavator earlier in the spring before new wetland species including swamp milkweed, swam rose mallow and blue flag iris were planted on Friday.
"Wetlands are really important in a number of ways, and most of the wetlands — in fact nearly 98% of the wetlands that originally existed in the Essex region — have been lost," says Breault Stuebing.
The new wetland near Holiday Beach was a joint effort between the authority and Enbridge, which has a solar farm in Amherstburg.
"There is about one acre, almost like a bowl-shaped wetland, and there's an island in the middle," says Breault Stuebing. "We planted what's called riparian species. These are species that are tolerant to wet, and they're things that are native to our region; things like butterfly milkweed and other sorts of species that will provide habitat for the wildlife in our region."
Enbridge came through with $30,000 in funding for the project, while Essex Region Conservation tapped in to the federal EcoAction fund.
Breault Stuebing hopes the project has a ripple effect.
"In addition to the habitat that's been created, it helps to serve as a demonstration project for other landowners — particularly farmers in our region — who may wish to replicate this kind of project on their own land. It also helps to improve water quality by helping to filter phosphorus," says Breault Stuebing.
Trees, shrubs and wildflowers were also planted as part of the new wetland habitat.