This is a guest blog by Jim Robb, Friends of the Rouge Watershed jim@frw.ca
Jim Robb is the GM of Friends of the Rouge Watershed. Inspired by the founder of the “Save the Rouge Movement”, Lois James, Jim has worked with many “friends” and environmental groups for more than 41 years to create RNUP and restore its biodiversity and ecological integrity.
On the northeast edge of the Greater Toronto Area is something truly extraordinary: Rouge National Urban Park (RNUP). Accessible by public transit, it’s one of the most biodiverse places in Canada—home to 1,700 species of plants and animals, including 42 species at risk. And next to it, in North Pickering, lies 37 square kilometres of federal lands that could improve the ecological integrity and sustainability of this national treasure.
Why these lands matter
Southern Ontario is the most developed and ecologically damaged area of Canada. It was dominated by forests and wetlands when it was taken from First Nations and given to settlers by the British Crown. Since 1800, 94% of its forests have been cleared and 70% of its wetlands drained. The remaining habitat is fragmented and under constant pressure from urban development, industrial-farming, pollution, invasive species, and climate change.
That’s why the federal lands in RNUP and North Pickering are so important. They are the largest remaining public land assembly in Canada’s endangered Carolinian and Mixed Woodland ecozones which are home to 20% of Canada’s species at risk. They are part of Rouge River and Duffins Creek watersheds which are home to species at risk like red-side dace and Atlantic salmon. When these species disappear, it’s a warning sign that our health is also at risk.
Protecting these lands isn’t just about wildlife—it’s about clean water, mitigation of flooding and climate change, opportunities for permaculture, and healthy communities.
A rare opportunity
For five decades, these lands were set aside for a proposed Pickering Airport that was never built because there was effective public opposition, and No airport business case. In January 2025, the federal government finally cancelled the airport plan and committed to adding the “vast majority” of the federal lands in North Pickering to RNUP.
That decision was widely celebrated—but it has not been implemented yet.
Adding all 37 square kilometres to Rouge National Urban Park could create and restore a larger, better connected natural area where endangered wildlife can thrive, ecosystems and watersheds can recover, and local food can be grown without pesticides.
Canada made a promise
In 2022, Canada signed the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, promising to protect 30% of its lands and waters by 2030.
But in Southern Ontario’s most endangered ecosystems, our Carolinian and Mixed Forests, less than 1% of the land is currently protected in national and provincial parks.
That’s a huge gap—and a federal responsibility to do better.
The path forward is clear. The federal government should honour its commitment and permanently protect all 37 square kilometres of the federal lands in North Pickering by adding them to Rouge National Urban Park.
This is a rare opportunity to:
- Protect species at risk by restoring forests and wetlands
- Reduce climate change, flooding and pollution by restoring forests and wetlands
- Support pesticide-free local food production, and
- Improve public access to nature in a region with few national parks.
If the federal government gets this right, future generations will inherit a greener, healthier, more resilient GTA – with a green door to mother nature’s beauty and diversity.
