Biodiversity refers to the variety of life on Earth. It encompasses all living things from plant life, wildlife, insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians (and more), how they interact with each other and the ecosystems in which they live. These areas provide pieces of land for our wildlife neighbors to be able to move within our city limits, providing essential habitats.
The community of Strathcona is lucky to have a natural area situated right in the middle of the community. It is our responsibility as good neighbors to ensure that these areas remain as natural as possible. Any misuse of the park over time can degrade the biodiversity of this park, changing it from a healthy ecosystem, to one that has issues with invasive species, erosion, etc. This causes the ecological health of this important natural area to decline. Misuse of a natural area can be classified as mowing, cutting down of trees and shrubs, building of bike ramps, feeding wildlife, building of structures out of natural materials and so on.
There are many things that you as a park user can do to ensure the health of this significant natural area.
How to help:
- Keep your pets on a leash in the natural area so that they aren’t breaking branches off young trees and shrubs.
- Stay on designated trails. This helps to prevent erosion in the park.
- Do not cut down any trees or shrubs in the park.
- Clean up any litter that you see. You can get a TLC (The litter clean up) Kit from the Shaganappi Community Association and do a small clean up. Every little bit helps.
- Do not feed any of the wildlife. There is plenty of food for them in our park spaces.
- Review Parks Bylaws to ensure that you are following the rules. All bylaws can be found on Calgary.ca.
Parks and Pathways Bylaw 11M2019
Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw 23M2006
Tree Protection Bylaw 23M2002
Encroachment Bylaw 9M2020
For further information on being a Good Parks User please go to: https://www.calgary.ca/parks/activities/user-guide.html
For more information on Biodiversity in the City of Calgary go to https://www.calgary.ca/csps/parks/planning-and-operations/biodiversity.html.