Biodiversity : Featured Stories

How a new flood protection plan makes room for the city's non-human residents. 

With careful management under the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, several previously fragile species are returning to the GTA.

Toronto is one of the most diverse cities in the world, so why would its wildlife species be any different? We take a tour through Toronto's ecosystem to learn more about the fish, birds, and mammals that share the city with us.

Black Creek Community Farm is a small, seven-acre farm in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood that is bringing fresh local produce and unique learning opportunities to one of the city's most challenging areas.

How professionals and community youth collaborated to bring a new landmark to East Scarborough's Kingston-Galloway-Orton Park neighbourhood. The Sky-O-Swale is at once an eco-friendly water filtration system and a community gathering space. 

The MaRS Discovery District's bee initiative adds its hives to the growing list of urban beekeepers using rooftops to enhance the biodiversity of Toronto's concrete jungle--and source delicious, organic, homegrown honey while they're at it.

After emigrating from Hungary to Toronto with nothing at the age of 19 in 2000, Christian Szabo is now the founder of two companies that help builders and developers protect birds from their buildings, and buildings from the birds.

Reporter Andrew Seale paddles down the Don River in a canoe to better understand how Toronto's various rivers and channels have impacted our city's infrastructure over the years. 

A new program called Garden Connections uses design technology to imagine and demonstrate what gardens could look like on condominiums, all before lifting a shovel. The technology beautifies floorplans and could have huge sway on how buyers purchase condos. 

Toronto refuses to incinerate its waste, though nearby Peel Region has been doing it for years and York Region is now stepping on board. Is it time for the city to revisit its stance on incinerators?

The Toronto Zoo's new ZooShare partnership is the Province's latest foray into community power. The Zoo will begin construction on a biogas plant this coming spring, turning the zoo's animal waste into energy that will be fed into Ontario's power grid. 

Local SPIN-farmers are using small plots of land to grow fresh produce in urban environments. The movement supports eating locally, all while creating jobs and taking advantage of underused backyards. 

Nestled behind a shopping plaza in Scarborough, Pond Biofuels has been working on turning pollution into clean energy since 2007. If they're successful, this innovative alternative to fossil fuel could change manufacturing. 

It's legal in many parts of Canada and the U.S., but Toronto's decades-old ban on backyard chickens continues to ruffle the feathers of urban egg farmers. Is the ban forcing these farmers to literally take urban poultry underground?

In an age when kids are getting less and less exposure to nature, a discussion between environmental guru David Suzuki and author Richard Louv reveals that the GTA is making some headway in greening our urban lives.