Toronto Nature Stewards (TNS), with the agreement of the City of Toronto Urban Forestry Division, runs a stewardship program on public land in ravines and natural areas without direct City supervision. Sites are managed by Lead Stewards who have been trained, follow agreed-upon protocols for ecological restoration, and report their stewardship activities.

How We Restore Land TNS Stewards support the ecological restoration of ravines and natural areas by picking up litter, removing invasive plants, planting native species, and monitoring the environmental impact of stewardship activities. We meet as small, local groups to care for approved sites in Toronto’s ravines and natural areas. Each stewardship site has been approved by the City of Toronto and each stewardship group is committed to stewarding their local site for several years.

Our Mission To engage and educate the people of Toronto in the stewardship of our ravines and natural areas.

Our Vision A Toronto with healthy, biodiverse ecosystems where plants and animals thrive.

Our HistoryToronto Nature Stewards grew out of the Toronto Ravine Strategy (2017), Biodiversity Strategy (2019) and Pollinator Protection Strategy (2018). A pilot started in spring of 2021 with 9 sites, 23 trained Lead Stewards and 153 stewards. The program has since expanded to more than 90 Lead Stewards and 1,000 Stewards, operating across 50 sites throughout the city.

Stewardship is Our Solution

Science-based We provide evidence-based training and resources to Lead Stewards, private property owners and volunteer Stewards for improving natural area ecological health and biodiversity.

Local lensEach piece of land has unique challenges and solutions. Through long-term stewardship, we can form a relationship with the land by learning from and caring for it.

Community involvement There is a tremendous need and opportunity for stewardship in Toronto that cannot be met by government alone. Community involvement in stewardship will benefit not only the land and resident wild species, but the people who participate in it.

Land Acknowledgement Stewardship of Toronto’s ravines and natural areas is the responsibility of us all. We live and work on this land and communally share the benefits of this unique place. Ravines and natural areas in Toronto have been stewarded for thousands of years by First Nations peoples in a shared understanding of our integral place in nature. Canada now seeks reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, and this means recognition of our shared responsibility to ensure this sacred land remains healthy and intact.

We acknowledge that Toronto and its ravines are part of the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples. Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, in Scarborough by the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands, and is now home to many diverse nations who share responsibility as co-signers of these treaties.

Any attempt to steward the land must be done in the spirit of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report (TRCR) and must therefore be inclusive of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis voices. “Canadians from all walks of life are responsible for taking action on reconciliation in concrete ways, working collaboratively with Aboriginal peoples. Reconciliation begins with each and every one of us.” (TRCR, p.185). Learning to steward the land together is one such act of reconciliation.