Summer 2023 has taken me on so many adventures here in the local and distant areas that I so love as I traverse not only the quickly deteriorating woodlands and abandoned farmlands along Lake Ontario which are suffering from neglect. Many are surrounding areas nearby where I live, and due to the loss of interest by humans, caring for the ecosystems that support them are so sadly recognized as needing restoration very soon..

I study the need for restoration by working with keenly interested teams of conservationists that I have met along my trail walks and in local Conservation Areas. Many foresters and educators are calling on our area communities to focus on supporting restoration in any way we can, primarily concerned with preventing further losses to our ecosystems.

Ecological restoration focuses on repairing the damage human activities have caused to natural ecosystems and seeks to return them to an earlier state or to another state that is closely related to one unaltered by human activities. I have taken time this early fall to find time to study with highly trained and keenly interested local area friends who walk the trails and forests, and follow as they work on ecological restoration, learning that commitment is distinguished from the practice of conservation.

Here in rotating temperate areas like our deciduous forests, plant species provide food and shelter for many animals. The forest ecosystem provides us with nutrient cycling, both for the animals that live here and for us humans who use the timber and recreation of the forest. 

I plan while working to create a new quilt with a focus on artwork that will relate to my land studies and hopefully, my own area ecosystems that will support my children and their children and the lands they live on now and as they grow.