Wade Genders - Dundas Eco Park

Wade Genders introduced his talk in a lively and interesting way - starting with a journey through the solar system. We visited Mars, where the CO2 in the atmosphere contributed to extreme cold and Venus, where it contributed to very high barometric pressure and temperatures. Bringing us down to Earth Wade pointed out that the CO2 in our atmosphere had risen from 280 parts per million to 390 parts per million in the past century, at the same time as the population had gone from 1.5 billion to 7 billion. The implication - if we carry on without changing, our planet's atmosphere may become unlivable.

Wade then reminded us of the wonderful air filtration system provided by the photo-synthesis of all plants that removes CO2 from the atmosphere. Parks are places that do this for us and Hamilton has a wonderful opportunity to create an urban park that would be four times the size of New York's Central Park. The Dundas Eco-Park is the heart of the larger Cootes to Escarpment area. It would bring many social, environmental and economic benefits to the City, and preserve a diverse and beautiful natural area.  The project is lead by the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority / Conservation Foundation which has already raised $1.8M of the expected $5M cost. More can be seen at www.dundasecopark.ca

In the Q&A session we learned that Art Sampson had been very instrumental in protecting much of this land from urban development several years ago and that it was now under the control of the Niagara Escarpment Commission.

From the website - The 1,346 hectare (3,325 acre) Dundas EcoPark will include restored and rehabilitated lands along the north shore of the Desjardins Canal, including the former Ben Veldhuis Greenhouse complex. The Dundas EcoPark is part of the Cootes to Escarpment Park System which provides the only continuous habitat connection from Lake Ontario to the Niagara Escarpment not broken by a series 400 highway.