The Kanata North Regeneration Stewards (KN Regens) are multiethnic, multiracial, intergenerational, and neurodiverse volunteers with the goal of restoring biodiversity, while bridging connections that improve our community’s social and ecological well-being through community-led stewardship.
As a committee of the Ottawa Stewardship Council, KN Regens provide leadership in developing and implementing regeneration activities.
Our Vision.
Create thriving and vibrant native wildflower and urban meadow habitat throughout the Morgan’s Grant Right-of-Way (owned by the City of Ottawa), that enriches local biodiversity, benefits the many native pollinator species, limits invasive and noxious weeds and helps improve the health and quality of life for people, as a large part of the Kanata North Hydro Corridor Eco-District project.
Build partnerships with other organizations to achieve the community’s vision for greenspace.
Foster community cohesion by working together with others to restore and regenerate ecosystems, while engaging and encouraging the community to participate.
Sow seeds of diversity both literally and figuratively. Restore, engage, regenerate, inclusively, to create a welcoming urban greenspace environment where people can connect in meaningful and authentic ways.
Background.
KN Regens are slowly transforming sections of noxious weeds and invasive plant species into wonderfully rich mini-meadows, filled with colourful native wildflowers for bees, butterflies, birds, and people to enjoy in the Kanata North Hydro corridor. We also have two demonstration garden projects. A small (but expanding) KNCG Friendship pollinator patch garden now sits at the entrance to the Kanata North Community Garden just north of Klondike Rd. Our much larger Kanata North Pollinator Patch garden is in progress just south of Klondike at Abbeydale Circle.
Knowing that we depend on pollinators for 1 out of every 3 bites of food, concerned and engaged citizens are trying to do our part to help support them. Being aware that young people feel betrayed and abandoned by adults for inaction on climate and other ecological crises, we hope to model what it looks like to take global problems seriously, through local solutions.
KN Regens builds on existing work in the community. In 2016 the Ottawa Stewardship Council began working with the City of Ottawa, the Briarbrook Brookside Morgan’s Grant Community Association (BMGCA), and Hydro One to restore pollinator habitat in the Morgan’s Grant Right-of-Way. As part of its required infrastructure maintenance program, Hydro One cleared and reseeded an area between Terry Fox to just north of Brady Avenue with native wildflowers and grasses designed to choke out invasive species like toxic Wild Parsnip.
Pollinators have been on a steep decline for decades. Multiple threats including habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change are largely to blame. Large scale immediate changes to land use are necessary to reverse this trend. A host of ecological and economic benefits derive from creating and enhancing pollinator habitat.
Urban meadows are healthy greenspaces full of self-sustaining native plants and grasses that provide habitat for pollinators and help us fight climate change. Pollinators are crucial for maintaining healthy ecosystems and our food web. Plants need them for reproduction, and we need pollinators to help plants make food for us.
Urban meadows help cool the environment and sink carbon. Deep-rooted native perennials also slow and absorb stormwater while filtering and improving water quality. Aside from these bonuses, the vibrant and rich beauty of meadow landscapes positively impact our own well-being. Studies show that being in nature helps to improve our moods and regulate our nervous systems, among other wonderful things.
In time, the KN Regens hope to build a welcoming landscape for pollinators and people: a Kanata North Pollinator Pathway.
For more details please visit the KN Regens project website.
Events
Past Events
Planting a Pollinator Pathway – creating a biodiverse landscape one step at a time…
We had a great turnout for our Wild Pollinator Partners’ 2024 Garden Tour at the Kanata North Pollinator Patch.
Bob McFetridge, Vice President of the Ottawa Stewardship Council, was on hand to talk about the OSC’s role in this project and how it builds on past work done in the Morgan’s Grant Hydro corridor.
Dr. Jessica Forest, a professor and bee researcher at the University of Ottawa, was available to identify pollinators and tell us a bit about their life cycles and needs.
The Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library joined us to share free native wildflower seeds and seedlings, along with lots of helpful information.
Here is a nicely written article about our garden tour event: Ottawa Stewardship Council’s Kanata North Regeneration Stewards
