Ontario’s Greenbelt is under threat | – Environmental Defence.
Ontario’s Greenbelt protects farmland and natural areas like forests and wetlands from urban sprawl. It ensures that nature isn’t a long drive away, and protects the sources of drinking water for millions of GTA residents. And it ensures that we in the Greater Golden Horseshoe have access to fresh, local food.
But, our world renowned Greenbelt is at risk. Today, the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance and Environmental Defence jointly released a new study, Ontario’s Greenbelt at Risk, which outlines four key threats to the Greenbelt:
- Proposals for infrastructure, such as new mega-highways that would pave over prime farmland, contribute to poorer air quality, and generate more greenhouse gases;
- Sprawl developments in the Greenbelt that would destroy farmland, forest and wetlands and the animals that live there;
- An unnecessary airport in the Greenbelt that would eliminate 7,530 hectares of prime farmland and forests, isolate Rouge Park from the Oak Ridges Moraine, spark development along the boundary of the Rouge Park and contribute to climate change;
- Dumping contaminated soil, which puts water and food sources at risk
The good news is that actions can be taken to reduce each of these threats.
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