Forest Plan

A Watershed Forest Plan for the Grand River (5MB PDF) provides a history and description of our watershed's forests and highlights some of the challenges they face. Current information on forest cover and natural characteristics by  subwatershed is available on our Natural Heritage Systems webpage.

In the early 1800s, the Grand River watershed was mostly forest. But during the 19th century, most of the forests were cleared as settlers developed farms, cities and towns. 

By the early 20th century, the loss of forests was an important factor in the increasing number and severity of floods, low water flows in the summer and the loss of bird and animal species as their habitat disappeared.

Since that time, tree planting initiatives have increased forest cover in southern Ontario, including the Grand River watershed. Since the 1930s, the GRCA has planted more than 30 million trees throughout the watershed.  

What's in the plan

The plan is in four main sections:

• Description of the watershed forest: how the forest is and how it came to be that way
• Overview of forest health: various aspects of forest health including insect and disease issues and species at risk
• Forest management: how the forests are managed now and how they could be managed in the future
• The community and its forests: ideas for education, tourism and wildlife monitoring.

The Forest Plan identifies a number of actions that are important in establishing and maintaining a healthy and sustainable watershed forest.