Awards received in 2018
The Adopt-A-Pond Wetland Conservation Programme (AAP) has received two awards this fall!
Most recently, AAP received a Living City Impact Award, which recognizes outstanding groups and individuals for initiatives that enrich communities in Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s (TRCA) jurisdiction and help advance its mandate. Our award was in the Greenspace and Biodiversity category, which relates to land securement and management, ecological restoration, parks management, species monitoring, invasive species management, etc.
Toronto Zoo is on TRCA lands in the Rouge watershed and shares conservation messaging that ties closely to TRCA’s mission. AAP has partnered with TRCA on many projects since 1999 including habitat restoration, outreach, and releasing 165 head-start Blanding’s turtles into Rouge National Urban Park. AAP and TRCA continue to work closely, rehabilitating habitat for wetland wildlife and working on an eco-passage project to mitigate the deadly effects of roads on wildlife.
Award acceptance (Left to right: Derek Edwards (TRCA), Paul Yannuzzi (AAP), Rick Vos (AAP), Crystal Robertson (AAP), and John Mackenzie (TRCA))
Earlier in the fall, our Blanding’s Turtle Head-starting and Reintroduction program was recognized with the CAZA Eleanore Oakes Award given for outstanding achievement by an institutional member in exhibit design, animal husbandry or education or for other significant contributions to the zoo and aquarium field.
You can visit the exhibit in the Americas Pavilion. For more information on the exhibit, program, and our partners, click here.
Adopt-A-Pond staff in front of the Blanding’s exhibit (Left to right: Paul Yannuzzi, Taylor Tabobondung, Courtney Leermakers, Katherine Wright, Jocelyne Pelletier, Rick Vos, Crystal Robertson, Tharusha Wijewardena, and Nicole Beaudry)
