Haliburton Biodiversity Project

A neat article just came out about biodiversity and Shelterbelts - also called treelines or hedgerows, planting trees and shrubs along the edges of crop fields can be hugely beneficial to many species, BUT planting them in large open wetland areas can negatively impact open wetland-dependent bird species.

This is important because agricultural wetlands (often now called seasonally flooded fields) are not only human food-producing systems but also key habitats for many bird species, including migratory species along major flyways. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-tree-belts-farmland-overlooked.html

Understanding the site's ecology and the species that depend on it is important in agricultural areas. Do you have a shelterbelt?

Planting tree belts on wet farmland comes with an overlooked trade-off A research team has conducted a study to examine how shelterbelts influence bird species diversity and composition in an agricultural wetland landscape on the western coast of central Japan. They determined that shelterbelts, trees planted to protect the land from wind in farmland are not automatica...

Thanks to everyone who came out to the January Haliburton Biodiversity Project work party Haliburton Community Organic Farm to support biodiversity on the property.

We had a great crew of 10 volunteers, including the field crew from Habitat Acquisition Trust who dug out some amazing blackberry root crowns along the fenceline.

We invite you to the February work party on Saturday Feb 7 10am to 1pm - free lunch included!

Thanks to a crew of 8 volunteers last month, we were able to dig out many blackberry root crowns, remove biomass along the fence line, and steward the meadow through some seed cleaning of large leaved lupine and great camas, as well as planning the maintenance strategy for 2026. We also used some pond liner to smother a spreading patch of invasive yellow archangel.

This month let's come together to spruce up the HUB and share a delicious meal - it's a special date you won't want to miss out on!

Visit the wetland, meadow, forest, hedgerows, and riparian areas all stewarded by volunteers. Family friendly.

Co-learn about restoration techniques for invasive plant removal.
See how biodiversity can benefit farmers and food producers.

Give back to nature!

At 12 PM, We will be serving lunch for all volunteers—so come hungry and ready for a meal with great company.

This little patch of land thrives because of volunteer support, and there’s no better way to reconnect with nature, meet like-minded folks, and make a real impact. Whether you’re a longtime volunteer or new to the HUB community, we’d love to have you there.

🌿Event Details:

➡️Time: 10 AM to 1 PM Saturday January 10th 2026

➡️Lunch: 12 PM – Provided for volunteers, bring a snack to share if you like!

➡️Location: Haliburton Farm - Urban Biodiversity Project, 741 Haliburton Road at

Let’s get our hands in the dirt, restore this space, and celebrate community together. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out—we’d love to hear from you.
RSVP for more details via email [email protected] for details.
Event link:
https://facebook.com/events/s/january-hub-restoration-work-p/1605417267135082/

Ssssssuccess! 🐍Thanks to such an amazing crew of 10 volunteers, we were able to steward the meadow to mimic fire 🔥 by cutting and raking the grass thatch in portions of the area - this helps reduce the thick layer of grass that prevents seeds from germinating and suppresses some less competitive plants like shootingstar and Camas. We also picked the heritage spartan apples to make fresh juice for future volunteers to enjoy.🍎🍎 Thanks to Helen and Karun for processing the apples and taking them for pressing. We also met this juvenile garter snake!
Do you know what species of gartner snake 🐍 this might be?

Huge thanks to Purnima for a delicious curry lunch!

Join us next month Saturday November 8 for the following work party for some community, restoration, and food!
🐸🐍🍎🔥🌿

A HUGE thanks to everyone who came out to the work party this past weekend - we got soo much blackberry out of the wetland area, thistles removed in the meadow, plus took home some delicious heritage Spartan apples 🍎
And shared a delicious lunch, noodles made by Purnima and crumble by Jemma.

We are going to host a mini power hour work party on Saturday Sept 20 10-12 if you want to join!

Thanks to Haliburton Community Organic Farm
and to Cordova Bay United Church for sharing the invite

🐝🦋Just a few of the pollinators observed and documented by youth volunteer Flora in the dry meadow restoration area at the last volunteer work party at Haliburton Community Organic Farm

🌻🌼🪻🏵️These dry meadows with native plants such as pearly everlasting, fireweed, and Douglas aster serve as important late season floral nectar resources for a diversity of native pollinators, as well as other predatory insects that will help control farm pests, like the Goldenrod crab spiders (seen in fireweed). The dry meadow is also an important habitat for snakes, who love eating the pesky slugs!

HUGE thanks to the wonderful volunteers Liz, Julia, Robbie, Flora, Skye, Ambrose, Martin, Priyanka, Ismet, Mike, Karun, Helen, Annabelle, Purnima and Paige who came out to tackle the blackberry, and will make more room for the native biodiversity that benefits farmers across the farm.

💪🌞



Pollinator Partnership Canada Native Bee Society of BC Lori Weidenhammer Satinflower Nurseries: Native Plants, Seeds & Consulting

You are invited! To join this months' work party on Sat Aug 2 10am to 1pm - lunch included! It is going to be Thai curry (vegetarian) with rice and sides.

Location: 741 Haliburton Road at Haliburton Community Organic Farm

All welcome! family friendly, no experience or tools needed needed.

The wetland is truly magical in the golden season. How many sleeping bumblees can fit in a patch of helenium? 🥹🥹🐝💤😴

You can see the sleeping bees too on Saturday August 2 at the next Restoration Blitz 10am to 1pm - plus lunch included! Join us!

These plants were originally sourced from 🌼🙏



Vancouver Island's Decade on Ecosystem Restoration Pollinator Partnership Canada Native Bee Society of BC