The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) has developed their Watershed Integrated Restoration Plan (WIRP) that uses local environmental data, restoration opportunity mapping, and future landform and development plans to prioritize restoration by ecotype. The development of the WIRP included extensive collaboration with internal and external agencies to build consensus on priority restoration opportunities and actions along the Toronto waterfront. Following completion, the WIRP has been a force for collaboration and partnerships to implement priority projects. To date, the WIRP has been used to identify priority projects for grants, municipal partnerships, development offsetting and habitat enhancements in landform project design. TRCA is continuing with the expansion of the WIRP outside Toronto. In partnership with the Canada Water Agency (CWA), TRCA and a Steering Committee will be assessing coastal marshes in Durham Region to ground truth CWA’s coastal wetland prioritization strategy. This presentation will focus on the utility of large-scale strategic planning tools like the which could serve as a model for other areas across the Great Lakes. Project examples will be provided with and update on the progress of the WIRP expansion and coastal wetland assessments.
