OPG efforts provide big boost for biodiversity in eastern Ontario
As part of its commitment to protect the province’s biodiversity, OPG’s regional and corporate biodiversity programs seek to help mitigate, support, and nurture wildlife and the natural environment near OPG’s operations.
In eastern Ontario, these programs are benefiting birds, pollinators, and species at risk.
For instance, in 2021, netting efforts are indicating that lake sturgeon, an at-risk fish species, are successfully spawning and prospering again in the Ottawa River. A total of 48 sturgeon were caught, consisting of 26 adults and 22 juveniles. The number of juvenile lake sturgeon captured demonstrates promising juvenile recruitment from a population recovery perspective.
It’s an encouraging sign that this ancient and long-lived species, which has historically been overharvested, is reproducing and making use of the spawning shoals in the waters around OPG’s Des Joachims Generating Station (GS), Chats Falls GS, Chenaux GS, and Otto Holden GS. It also demonstrates the positive impact of OPG’s other mitigation efforts, such as flow modifications, habitat enhancements, and stocking in the St. Lawrence River.
“These efforts are just part of OPG’s wider commitment to protecting biodiversity and the environment in our site communities.”John Beauchamp, Director of Environment, Health and Safety at OPG
“Based on historical catches, this shows an improvement year over year,” said Dan Gibson, Senior Environment Specialist at OPG. “With the juveniles especially, their numbers are a lot higher from the previous netting. We’ve been targeting them more effectively and we’re now finding more of them and from different year classes.”
To protect lake sturgeon, OPG has registered nine mitigation plans under the Endangered Species Act on rivers where the company operates across the province.
OPG staff also continued monitoring the effectiveness of barn swallow nesting cups at the Otto Holden, Chats Falls, and Calabogie hydro sites. The fabricated structures and nest cups at these sites continue to offer the threatened songbirds precious habitat for shelter and nesting.
Also at Des Joachims GS, a new Motus Wildlife Tracking station was installed, the sixth tracker to be mounted across OPG sites. The specialized receiver, part of the International Motus Wildlife Tracking System, helps study the migratory movements of countless birds, bats, and large insects by scanning the sky for signals 24 hours a day year-round.
The Motus network can track thousands of tagged flying organisms across a diversity of landscapes covering thousands of kilometres. It has proven to be a valuable resource for research and conservation efforts.
Other initiatives included monitoring of pollinators in partnership with the River Institute around OPG’s Saunders Hydro Visitor Centre and the completion of a species at risk survey at Chenaux GS.
Groundbreaking also commenced on the second phase of a long-term sustainable landscape plan for the Saunders visitor centre, which will build on the butterfly and herb garden that was planted in 2019. By summer 2022, the grounds around the centre will feature a new accessible trail, diverse gardens featuring plants and flora important to Indigenous people, and an overlook shelter.
“These efforts are just part of OPG’s wider commitment to protecting biodiversity and the environment in our site communities,” said John Beauchamp, Director of Environment, Health and Safety at OPG. “Across the company, we are engaging with conservation authorities and environmental agencies on a wide range of other programs, including habitat restoration, native tree planting, and managing wetlands.”
These nature-based solutions will be important to helping OPG reach its climate change goals outlined in its Climate Change Plan.
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