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The strategy strives to create a more sustainable waterfront as part of the Living City. The Living City is the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority's vision for the protection and restoration of ecological health in the Toronto region. It is based on the recognition that in order to ensure a healthy environment for ourselves, future generations and the life around us, we must stop acting as if our actions have no consequences on the environment and develop new ways to live, work and play. The Living City vision encourages human communities to flourish as part of nature's beauty and diversity in shared habitats where we learn from nature and mimic natural processes to achieve greater environmental health, social well-being and economic vitality.
Within this context of sustainability, the strategy uses an ecosystem approach to increase ecological integrity, provide suitable conditions for the maintenance of self-sustaining communities and improve ecological connectivity. It emphasizes conservation design based on native and naturalized species. It takes into account human uses of the shoreline and nearshore waters and it is being developed using a consultative, consensus-based approach involving stakeholders and the general public.
- The ecosystem approach is based on the understanding that "everything is connected to everything else" and focuses on the relationships among air, land, water and living organisms, including humans and their activities. It takes a comprehensive view of the combined effects of all activities in an area over time and seeks to achieve overall, long-term benefits while avoiding negative cumulative impacts.
- Ecological integrity is the ability of an ecosystem to maintain its organization and functions. Some of the factors that contribute to integrity are resilience to change, productivity, vigour, and species diversity.
- Self-sustaining communities are able to reproduce naturally, with minimal human intervention, to maintain healthy populations of plants and animals, including species at risk.
- Native and naturalized species are those species that are indigenous to the Toronto waterfront (eg lake trout) as well as those that have been introduced but have become an integral part of the ecosystem (eg Pacific salmon). Most non-native species (eg carp, goby) take advantage of degraded ecosystems, and their numbers and productivity will be reduced when ecosystem health improves.
- Ecological connectivity recognizes the physical and biological relationships among nearshore, watershed and lakewide ecosystems. Examples include shoreline processes, wetland functions, migration and over-wintering patterns, and spawning and feeding requirements.
- Conservation design is planning and designing for a variety of wildlife habitats and incorporating principles of natural succession to restore or create functional habitat.
- Human uses are recognized as an integral part of the waterfront. Water and land-based human activities will be incorporated in the habitat restoration strategy. Habitat improvements will be integrated into waterfront redevelopment initiatives wherever possible.
- A consultative approach is essential to ensure that the many interests of individuals, groups and agencies are met in seeking to improve aquatic habitats. Although there may be competing or conflicting objectives and approaches, this strategy strives to achieve consensus and a clear direction for future actions.
The strategy is intended to improve waterfront aquatic habitats for all species of native and naturalized species — fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, molluscs, invertebrates and plants. However it focuses on fish because they are excellent indicators of the overall health of the ecosystem. In addition, aquatic habitats that meet the varied requirements of diverse species of fish at different stages of their lifecycle also meet the needs of many other species.
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