Great Botanic Gardens in Canada

Great Botanic Gardens in Canada

By Mr Ghaz, November 10, 2010

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Great Botanic Gardens in Canada

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Canada has 25 botanic gardens and in 1995 the Canadian Botanical Conservation Network was formed to promote the role of these gardens in conservation. Many of them manage natural areas, and over 1600 hectares of natural ecosystems are protected within land owned by the botanic gardens.

The Royal Botanical Gardens

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Cootes Paradise

The Royal Botanical Gardens is the largest botanic garden in Canada, taking in 122 hectares of cultivated garden and over 1,020 hectares of nature sanctuaries and wetlands, close to the city of Hamilton, Ontario. Since 1998 it has been designated a Site of National Historical and Architectural Significance. Thomas Baker McQuesten, a lawyer and Member of Provincial Parliament for the city of Hamilton, Ontario, originally conceived the idea for this garden. In the early 1920s, Canada had only two formal botanical institutions: the central Experimental Farms in Ottawa, and the University of British Columbia’s Botanical Garden in Vancouver. Motivated by a desire to develop and improve the city of Hamilton, McQuesten, then chairman for public Works for the city, and C.V Langs, chair of the city of Hamilton Board f Park Management, began the process of creating the garden at the northwestern entrance to the city. The first properties purchased by the city included 105 hectares of wooded land and 48.8 hectares of wetland called Wastdale Park.

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Key to the development of the park concept was the large Great Lakes coastal wetland called Cootes Paradise. Named after a British army officer stationed in the time of the American Revolution, Cootes Paradise is a complex system of wetlands and ravines that extends inland from Hamilton Harbour, itself a bay of Lake Ontario. As early as 1887, civic and provincial governments were concerned to protect the marsh as a wildlife and bird sanctuary, and took steps to save it from filling and development. As a result, most of the marsh has remained intact.