Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada
BY JOHN LOWRY
We have here in Belleville an incredibly amazing opportunity; An opportunity to preserve and protect an ecological jewel.
I am speaking, of course, of the Bell Creek Watershed, or more specifically the area of the watershed that lies to the east of Haig Road and between the Canadian National (CN) rail line to the north and the Canadian Pacific (CP) rail line to the south.
There exists in that 250 acre space, a near-pristine example of what Southern Ontario would have looked like prior to European settlement. In that area is a diverse collection of habitat types ranging from Mixed Woods Forest to swamp and marshlands.
The uniqueness of this area was recognized as far back as 1994 when the City of Belleville ‘Bell Creek Secondary Plan’ clearly stated on Page 8 of its report under Section 1.1.2 Habitat Values that “The Bell Creek corridor represents a locally unusual diversity of habitat due to a variety of geomorphomological features, soils, water and micro-climatic effects.” Further, it stated that surrounding the central wetland complex they had found nine of eleven possible habitat types present.
The core of the area is the Bell Creek Swamp Complex, an evaluated Provincially Significant Wetland (PSW), with its swamp habitat and the Bell Creek Swamp Complex Addition to the north which is primarily a marsh wetland.
On the western bank are a variety of habitats including the majestic old growth Sugar Maple Forest and Trembling Aspen Grove as well as a regenerating forest of Juniper and a remnant treeline of White Oak and Hickory in what was once pasture land.
The eastern bank habitats include a mature coniferous forest of Eastern White and Red Cedar and the beautiful mature deciduous forest of the Eastern Tributary Ravine with its stand of primarily American Beech and Ironwood trees.
The southern edge has a mixture of globally rare Alvar habitat along with Tall Grass Meadow. Running throughout the area are rich riparian habitats along the various tributaries of the creek.
This amazing interlocking quilt of habitats supports an incredibly rich biodiversity of life.
Efforts to record a complete list of the biodiversity are ongoing but already the inventory reveals an incredible number of species, both flora and fauna.
A special project created on iNaturalist has tallied over 283 species since it was created in October 2021, which is surely just the tip of the iceberg. I personally have been recording wildflower species within the watershed and the list has now grown to over 130 species.
Further, Ebird reflects a list of 126 species of birds that have been observed to breed, nest, hunt or simply pass through this green corridor.
The attached pages reveal just a small portion of the amazing variety of creatures and plants that call this space home. (All photos, unless otherwise noted, were taken by the author.)
Once the glaciers had retreated approximately 12 – 14,000 years ago the Quinte Region began a slow evolution from tundra like habitat to the mixed deciduous forests that would have covered this area 250 years ago. During this time the region would fall under the suzerainty of succeeding indigenous cultures including the Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and the Anishinabek. The year 1784 would see the first influx of United Empire Loyalist settlers to the area whose arrival would trigger a significant ecological makeover of the region as forests were harvested for lumber and cleared to convert the land to agricultural use.
By the 1940s one of the primary properties within the lower watershed was the Hanley farm. This property was purchased by Maurice Rollins, a local businessman and entrepreneur, who played a significant role in developing the east end of Belleville. Much of the land within this area began a natural process of rewilding at this time, a process that continues to this day.
Because of the importance of this watershed to the City of Belleville and then adjacent Thurlow Township, as well as the Bay of Quinte, a variety of studies have been conducted over the years exclusively pertaining to or including the Bell Creek Watershed. (See attached list.) A common theme that runs throughout the various studies, and that is often stated emphatically, is the importance of this area and the need to protect and preserve it.
Yet despite these repeated exhortations the watershed remains vulnerable and at risk.
A simple example of how the watershed continues to be impacted and degraded by human actions is the watershed area. A map prepared for the 1989 Bell Creek Flood Plain Mapping Master Drainage Plan records a watershed area of 23.3 square kilometres (or 2,330 hectares). A study conducted in 2012 by Lower Trent Conservation included an updated watershed map by which time the watershed was recorded as having an area of 18.97 square kilometres (1,897 hectares). This represented a loss of roughly one-sixth of the watershed area. This obviously would impact the amount of water entering the creek system and its rate of flow.
The watershed continues to face ongoing threats from urban sprawl and other human activities. There is very much a risk that this beautiful green corridor will be degraded to the point of no return, or suffer essentially “a death by a thousand cuts.”
There is plenty of rationale to support the need to protect this special place.
The watershed has a direct impact on the water quality of the Bay of Quinte. After the Bay of Quinte was identified as an Area of Concern in 1985, the Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan (BQRAP) was established and literally millions of dollars have been spent to clean up the Bay. We need to be diligent in protecting that valuable resource.
There is the issue of flood control. The forests on either side of the creek and the wetlands hold back, store and filter large quantities of water. Having a natural reservoir of water there is likely to become more important as average temperatures continue to rise and our region faces the possibility of recurring drought conditions with the onset of climate change.
Also protecting and preserving critical habitat for all the species that call the watershed home should be paramount. Included in the list of species known to occur in the watershed are several species that appear on the Government of Ontario’s ‘Species at Risk’ list including the Bobolink and the Common Snapping Turtle. In addition, Ontario – Frogwatch lists the American Bullfrog as a species of concern in eastern Ontario.
Beyond the environmental reasons there are the obvious benefits to local residents and future local residents (as the city continues to expand eastward). The Covid 19 pandemic has clearly revealed the value of accessible near urban green spaces for residents to have access to, especially during times of duress.
The Bell Creek Watershed also offers up opportunities for education and natural studies. Local school children would have the opportunity to witness at first hand a near-pristine wilderness that is literally in their backyard.
There is also the potential for ecotourism. A protected area within the watershed could be a destination for tourists from outside our city, with all the potential benefits for local businesses from an increase in number of visitors to our area.
What is immediately apparent to even a layman such as myself is that this watershed area is an incredibly special place. It is indeed possible that this pristine piece of nature could very well be unique in both its combination of habitats and its state of preservation in heavily developed and urbanized southern Ontario.
Further, I participated in an Ontario Nature webinar that highlighted what qualities a natural area should possess in order to qualify as a worthy candidate for protection. As they rhymed off the four top criteria, I was mentally putting check marks in the boxes beside the Bell Creek Watershed. They stipulated that it was desirable if the area contained Provincially Significant Wetlands, old growth forest, was serving as a green corridor for wildlife and lastly had a near urban location. I would contend that the Bell Creek Watershed is quite literally a poster child for an area in need of and worthy of protection
I respectfully suggest that there are several options potentially available to protect the area in question.
The target lands could be acquired by one of several organizations. The list includes the City of Belleville, Quinte Conservation, the Hastings-Prince Edward Land Trust, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (the largest private nature conservation and restoration organization in Canada) or even potentially a local non-profit citizen advocacy group such as the Friends of Bell Creek.
Regarding the municipal option, one need look no further than Quinte West to see two sterling examples of municipal parks that have been allowed to remain in a natural state with low-impact foot paths to allow local citizenry to access and enjoy these areas – Hanna Park (a 42-acre wooded area located at Creswell Street in Trenton) and Hollinger Park (a 24-acre wooded area located at 86 Bird Road, QW).
And so the question is simply this – Will we take advantage of this opportunity and leave an incredible legacy for the generations to come?
The time to decide is now as time is very definitely not on our side. Hesitate and surely the golden opportunity that lies within our grasp will slip away.
My hope is that this document will help in getting that conversation started.
John Lowry – Quinte Field Naturalists.
Literature & Reports – Researched & Cited
Note – Organizational titles are recorded as they were at the time of the issuance of the report.